Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TURLOCK – Coming off one of the best opening days where San Francisco State grabbed three victories, including two over ranked opponents, the Gators dropped their first game Sunday morning against Dominican 3-0. Despite the shutout, SF State bounced back with a comeback 6-4 victory over No. 11-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills to take the top prize at the Best of the West tournament.

"I'm very happy with the way we played this weekend and I think it's a great start to the season," said head coach Cristina Byrne. "I'm proud of the girls for trusting all the work they've put in and for coming out strong against some top opponents."

With the split, the Best of the West Champions improve to a 4-1 record to open the season. Kylie Grabowski and Gabby Reta each batted at .500, with Reta going 4-for-8 with two runs and two RBIs. Grabowski hit 3-for-6 and picked up an RBI. Courtney Gravel also found success at the plate, grabbing two RBIS and a run for herself.

After the tournament, Grabowski was named Best of the West Invitational MVP and joined teammates Gravel and Marisa Ibarra on the all-tournament team.

"Kylie was lights out at the plate for us," said Byrne. "She came up clutch for us multiple times this weekend and did a great job managing the pitchers behind the dish for all five games. I'm proud of her performance this weekend and how she is swinging the stick in the four spot."

Ibarra went 3-0 from the circle for the Gators, striking out 14 batters and keeping Chico State scoreless Saturday night.

"I think Marisa came out and did an excellent job in the circle," said Byrne. "She worked through some things and got behind a bit, but battled back and kept her composure. She was a huge part of the team's success this weekend. Her leadership and demeanor are incredible and our lineup can provide her with some great run support."

Game 1 vs. Dominican
To start day two of the tournament, SF State took on the Dominican Penguins. The Gators started a little shaky, giving up two walks in the first inning, but held the Penguins scoreless in the first two innings of play.

In the bottom of the second with two outs, Sarah Catania blasted her hit deep to center field, bouncing the ball off the fence for a double, but was left on base as Dominican grabbed the third out to end the inning.

Still scoreless after two, Dominican stepped up to the plate ready to capitalize with two runners on base and no outs. Tori Johnson laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base each. Kayleigh Klingsberg found a gap for a base hit, sending both of the Penguins on base home to score, giving Dominican a 2-0 lead.

The Gators grabbed the second out of the inning, but not before the Penguins put runners on second and third. Leslie Mesa knocked a pitch toward the left, but Gravel made a diving catch to end the inning to prevent the Penguins from scoring more runs in the process.

Down 2-0, SF State couldn't grab runs in the next two innings despite putting down a hit in each appearance at the plate. Reta singled in the third, only to get stuck on first, and Grabowski singled to right field to start the fourth. Chelsea Brent pinch ran for Grabowski and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jennifer Lewis. Brent made her way to third as the Penguins found the second out, but it was the closest she came to scoring as Dominican picked up another out to keep the Gators scoreless.

Back on defense, Gravel backtracked to catch a pop up for the first out in the top of the fifth and scooped up a ground ball to assist Cara Spence with the second putout. Despite the two early outs, Klingberg powered a hit deep to left center, taking a bounce over the fence for a ground-rule double. Dominique Perry snuck a single past a diving Kelsey Murakami, allowing Klingberg to put the Penguins up 3-0, before Ali Garcia came in for relief and struck out the final batter to end the inning.

Desperately searching for runs, the Gators put two runners on base in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Gravel entered the batter's box and sent the ball to the left of Rachel Santiago at second, but Santiago dove to keep the ball from sneaking through to once again send the Gators back on defense empty handed.

SF State held the Penguins scoreless through the next two innings, but couldn't produce any runs on offense to end with the 3-0 loss.

Game 2 vs. #11 Cal State Dominguez Hills
Looking to put the first game behind them, the Gators held Cal State Dominguez Hills scoreless through the first inning after taking the batters out in order. CSUDH returned the favor, however, grabbing three consecutive outs to take to the plate again.

With a runner on second, Christina Chavez singled up the middle to push Brittany Brenner to third, where the Toros' head coach was holding her up. A misthrow, however, gave Brenner the green light to score, giving CSUDH a 1-0 lead with no outs. The Toros added three more runs in a two-out rally, putting SF State in a 3-0 hole heading into the bottom of the second.

The Gators put two runners on base in the bottom half of the inning, but couldn't get them home to take the infield once again. SF State surrendered another run to the Toros, giving CSUDH a 4-0 advantage in two and a half innings.

Determined to turn things around, Huff started the Gators off with a triple and scored in the next play off an RBI single from Reta. Gravel joined Reta on base with a base hit of her own to left center and Grabowski loaded up the bases with a single to center. Lewis walked to score Reta at third, cutting the Toros' lead in half at 4-2, but the Gators couldn't do any more damage, leaving three runners on base.

Still trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Lucy Fernandez started the inning with a base hit, finding the gap at right field. Veronica Vazquez made a crucial stop at second to get Fernandez out at second, but Murakami reached first safely. Catania drilled a pitch right back at the Toros' pitcher, hitting her in the leg to deflect the ball just enough to evade the shortstop's path.

With the tying runs on first and second and one out, another fielder's choice play picked Catania off at second and allowed Huff to reach first. Hoping to get a two-out rally going, Reta knocked a hit just over the glove of Chavez's glove at short to push Murakami home to cut CSUDH's lead to 4-3.

As momentum started to shift, Gravel hit a blooper to left field and bounced away from the outfielder to allow the tying and go-ahead runs to score. With the game now in their favor and excitement building, the Gators' Grabowski added an insurance run off an RBI base hit to right center, before Cal State Dominguez Hills ended the inning.

Just needing three outs to secure the victory, SF State grabbed two early outs to put pressure on the Toros. CSUDH managed to get runners at first and second, but Lewis sprinted forward to catch a fly ball in right field to end the game at 6-4 in favor of the Gators.

Although three teams finished with 4-1 records, the Gators took the championship home since they beat both CSUDH and Cal State San Marcos in head-to-head competition. 

"There are a lot of little things we still need to work on, but we will continue to grow and get better as a team," said Byrne. "Our team is pretty young and I think our youth really came out this weekend and showed what they are capable of. I'm also very happy with the senior leadership as well. Now, we need to look forward and keep working hard to prepare ourselves for our conference opener in two weeks."

San Francisco State has a week to regroup and continue to improve on some things before starting California Collegiate Athletic Action on Friday, Feb. 15 at Sonoma State.