Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TURLOCK --- Coming off some tough losses, the SF State Gators finally broke through their winless drought and grabbed a pair of shutout victories in the second day of the Tournament of Champions, hosted by Cal State Stanislaus. The Gators first upset National Collegiate Athletic Association Div. II No. 21-ranked Grand Canyon 1-0 before taking a rematch 5-0 win over Dominican University of California to improve to 15-23 on the season.

"It was nice to break out of the little slump we were in," said head coach Cristina Byrne. "We play so well against Top 25 teams, we really come to play. I think it's us learning and experiencing as a young team how to play like that all the time."

Three pitchers combined to keep SF State's opponents off the board, led by Marisa Ibarra's seven inning effort against GCU to stand 11-9 on the season. Emily Gibson and Ali Garcia teamed up to throw five strikeouts in the second game, giving Garcia (1-0) her first win of the year.

"That first game against Grand Canyon Marisa went out and threw another gem of a game," said Byrne. "We can't ask for any more than she's given us this year. She gave us every opportunity to win. Solid pitching from Marisa in the first game and Ali came in as relief for Emily and did a great job as well. She kept the hitters off balanced."

Keeping her bat hot from Friday's games, Kelsey Murakami finished the day with three hits, with an RBI, and scored the game-winning run in the opening game. Gabby Reta also posted hits in both games as the Gators' designated player.

"Kelsey's been having a great tournament," said Byrne. "She's been working extra and the work is paying off. She's come up clutch for us. She's been huge for us and it's been nice to see her get hot, especially where she is in the lineup, it really helps us."

Game 1: SF State 1, #21 Grand Canyon 0
After going down in order to start the first, the Gators grabbed a double play in the next half inning to keep Grand Canyon from capitalizing first. With a runner on second, Lucy Fernandez snagged a line drive and caught the runner off the bag for a double play and Jennifer Lewis picked up the third putout.

The Gator offense came alive in the top of the third as Murakami led the inning with a single to left field. Sarah Catania sacrificed a bunt to advance Murakami to second and she made her way to third on a wild pitch. Another out later and determined to not leave Murakami stranded on third, Ashley Huff knocked a base hit to right to send Murakami in for the run.

"We were able to get a lead-off runner on, execute a bunt and then get a hit with two outs to score and that was huge for us," said Byrne. "We got that one run and that was all we needed."

Holding on to the 1-0 lead, the Gator defense came under pressure in the bottom of the sixth when the Antelopes had a runner on third with two outs. Murakami made a crucial diving stop and tossed the ball to Cara Spence at first to end the inning without surrendering the tying run. SF State held fast to the lead to take the game 1-0.

Game 2: SF State 5, Dominican 0
Facing a familiar foe in Dominican--who had claimed two of the previous three contests--SF State hoped to carry the momentum it picked up in the first victory over against the Penguins. Dominican started the game by loading up the bases, but the Gators got themselves out of the hole unscathed.

"We came out against Dominican with a fire we've had in the past," said Byrne. "I feel like it's back. We got that spark again. We started to string things together offensively and scored multiple runs. It felt good to be back to us and what we do."

SF State struck first in the second, scoring two runs off two hits and a Penguin error. Kylie Grabowski opened the inning with a single through the left side and was pushed to second off a sacrifice bunt from Spence. Lewis took advantage of an error to reach first and advance to second on the throw, while Grabowski ran home for the first run. Murakami stepped up to the plate and knocked a single up the middle to score Lewis and give the Gators a 2-0 lead.

The Gators opened up their lead in the fifth, plating two runs after the Penguin pitcher Ashlyn Moriarity walked three batters to load the bases. Dominican grabbed a force out at the plate, but looking to turn it into a double play, committed a costly error that scored two of the SF State runners, increasing the lead to 4-0.

In the sixth, SF State added its final run off two hits, including a double from Spence. With Grabowski on first, Spence knocked a double down the left line to push Grabowski to third. Lewis followed with a base hit to score Grabowski and put SF State up 5-0, but the Penguins found three consecutive outs to end the inning.

Dominican came close to breaking the scoreless barrier in the top of the seventh, but once again the Gators keyed down on defense to keep the Penguins off the board and take the game 5-0.

"I was happy with the day," said Byrne. "Hopefully we can keep that going."

For the final day of the Tournament of Champions, the Gators will face #21 Grand Canyon once again in the bronze bracket opening round at 8:30 a.m. The winner of that game will advance to an 11 a.m. showdown with Cal State San Bernardino, while the loser's tournament play will conclude.