SAN FRANCISCO – A pair of gritty pitching performances and an afternoon of stellar defense paved the way as the San Francisco State softball team took both halves of Tuesday's doubleheader against No. 6 Chico State, winning game one 4-1 before taking game two 2-1.
Megan Clark (5-6) threw a gem in the opener, and was a pop up behind the circle that fell for a base hit away from throwing a complete game shutout. As it stands, the senior starter threw a 4-hit masterpiece to set the tone in game one.
In the nightcap, starter
Aryn Guzman (1-0) pitched around a solo home run for four solid innings before turning the ball over to
Lindsey Cassidy who pitched three shutout innings in relief.
Behind the trio of pitchers for the Gators was some stellar defense, none bigger than a perfectly executed 7-6-2 putout at home by left fielder
Delanie Chrisman and turned by
Kasie Trezona that ended a Chico State threat with the Gators clinging to a 2-1 lead.
The Gators (8-14/7-11) got a bulk of their offense early, scoring five of their six runs in the first two innings. At the plate, SF State collected 15 hits, leading the charge was
Alexis Mattos who was 4-for-8 on the day with two runs scored and an RBI, as well as
Celeste Adriano who hit safely in both contests and now has a team-leading, 10-game hitting streak.
Clark got things on the right start for SF State in game one. Eight pitches in the top of the first resulted in three harmless ground balls for a quick inning by the lefty.
In the bottom of the second the Gators jumped out front early. Guzman led off the inning on a four pitch walk, she moved to second when Mattos singled through the left side. Both runners moved up 60 feet on the sacrifice bunt by Clark. Higa clubbed a double to left center that scored Guzman. Reta grounded out to second that plated Mattos for the Gators second run.
Chico State got on the board in the top of the fourth inning when a popup fell in for a hit in the middle of the infield to score a run from third. Adriano saved a run when she snatched a ball in the dirt and dove to the plate to get a Chico State runner attempting to steal home.
The Gators responded in the home half of the inning. Terrel led off with a leadoff walk, pinch runner Trezona took second on the sac bunt by
Madison Collins. Guzman singled down the right field line scoring Trezona from second.
Clark shut down the Wildcats the remainder of the game, her line for the afternoon, 7.0 complete, scattering four hits, one earned run, with a pair of walks and three strike outs. The loss went to Haley Gilham (8-2) who went 6.0 complete, surrendering eight hits, four runs, with five walks and two strike outs.
In game two the Gators lit up the scoreboard first again. In the bottom of the first inning SF State took advantage of a pair of Wildcats errors. Mattos reached on a fielder's choice and then stole second. Clark walked, with both runners advancing to third on a wild pitch. Mattos came into score on the sacrifice fly by
Sara Higa, her second RBI of the day. Clark came around to score when Adriano reached on an error by the shortstop.
In the top of the second inning, the Wildcats got their lone run of the afternoon. Guzman got a quick ground out to second before surrendering a one-out solo home run to first baseman Olivia Dallara her second of the year.
Guzman settled down and got out of the inning, she threw two more scoreless innings and turned the ball over to Cassidy in the fourth. Cassidy was near unhittable, scattering a one-out hit in the sixth as the only base runner to reach base safely.
The Gators return to action tomorrow when they look to earn the series win against the Wildcats. Game one of Wednesday's double header starts at noon with game two scheduled to start around 2:00 p.m.
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