Feb. 20, 2016
SAN DIEGO -
San Diego State knocked off No. 22/25 California, 2-1, Saturday night at the 26th annual Campbell/Cartier Classic at SDSU Softball Stadium. The Aztecs improved to 6-3 with their third straight win, while the Golden Bears dropped to 5-3 with their second loss of the night after beating No. 18/19 Kentucky, 5-1, on Friday.
The decisive inning was the bottom of the third, when freshman Kiera Wright (Riverside, Calif.) and sophomore Zaria Meshack (Vallejo, Calif.) each reached via infield hits with two outs, and moved into scoring positon on a wild pitch by Cal ace pitcher Nisa Ontiveros. Senior Leia Ruiz (Chino, Calif.) then hit a hard-hit grounder to California first baseman Kobie Pettis, who was unable to handle it cleanly and charged with an error as Wright easily scored on the play. Senior Samantha Camello (Temecula, Calif.) followed with a single up the middle to plate Meshack with an insurance run.
The Bears responded in the fourth after loading the bases with one out. Annie Aldrete hit a sac fly to Wright in center field to score Pettis. SDSU right-hander Erica Romero (Corona, Calif.), however, struck out Taylor Koenig swinging to end the threat.
Romero allowed only one baserunner on a hit over the final three innings to secure the win and improve to 5-0 on the season. For the game, she gave up one run on six hits (all singles) and a walk over seven innings, while striking out three.
Meshack had two hits and scored a run to lead San Diego State. Camello and Wright added the team's other two hits (both in the third inning).
Ontiveros struck out 10 and allowed two unearned runs on four hits in the loss for Cal.
The Aztecs wrap up their play in the Campbell/Cartier Classic against San Diego at 2 p.m. PST.
26th Annual Campbell/Cartier Classic
San Diego, Calif. - SDSU Softball Stadium
February 20, 2016
San Diego State 2, No. 22/25 California 1
California (5-3) 000 100 0 -- 1 6 1
San Diego State (6-3) 002 000 x -- 2 4 0
Ontiveros and Aldrete; Romero and Sturdivant
W - Romero, 5-0; L - Ontiveros, 4-1
Other Saturday Scores
No. 18/19 Kentucky 10, South Dakota 0 (5 inn.)
No. 18/19 Kentucky 10, Texas Tech 0 (5 inn.)
San Diego 6, South Dakota 3
Texas Tech 2, No. 22/25 California 1
Current Campbell/Cartier Classic Records
No. 18/19 Kentucky, 4-1 (.800)
San Diego State, 3-1 (.750)
San Diego, 2-1 (.667)
No. 22/25 California, 2-2 (.500)
Texas Tech, 1-3 (.250)
South Dakota, 0-4 (.000)