SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State softball team fell just short of a split with the tenth ranked team in the nation on Friday afternoon. The Gators fell to Cal State Monterey Bay 8-0 in game one before losing 5-4 in the nightcap.
In the opener, SF State's (19-25/13-21 CCAA) offense could not get into a rhythm against Cal State Monterey Bay (36-7/24-6 CCAA) starter Haley Fein (23-6). Fein came away with a pair of wins on the day, but in game one she was particularly nasty, going the distance while holding the Gators to just four hits and no runs.
The Otters scored the game's first run in the top of the first inning, on a one out sacrifice fly to left field. Gator's starting pitcher
Megan Clark (10-14) got out of the jam and looked like she was settling into a nice groove, retiring five in a row before the Otter's small ball attack did her in.
In the top of the third and fourth inning, CSUMB scored seven runs on 11 hits, all of them singles, to go out front 8-0. With Fein in control, the Otter's took the game 8-0 in five innings.
Aryn Guzman,
Alexis Mattos,
Celeste Adriano and
Delanie Chrisman all recorded a hit for the Gators.
In game two, it was SF State who scored first. In the bottom of the second, Clark attempted to advance
Gabby Reta with a sacrifice bunt. The Otter's pitcher Alyssa D'Agostino fielded the ball and threw out Reta and second. Clark caught CSUMB sleeping and took second without a play. The next batter,
Kasie Trezona, knocked Clark in with a single to right field.
In the top of the third inning the Otter's scored two runs on Gator's starter
Aryn Guzman (5-2), the first run coming off a sacrifice fly, the second a two-out single to left field that scored the go-ahead run.
In the bottom of the fourth, SF State retook the lead, scoring two runs on one hit. The Gators scored the tying run when Mattos hit a shot to the third baseman who couldn't make the play allowing Trezona to score unearned. Adriano recorded an RBI the easy way drawing a bases loaded walk for the inning's second run.
With Guzman battling, CSUMB took the lead for good on a three-run home run by Julia Garcia, her 12
th of the year.
In the top of the seventh SF State cut the lead in half when
Sara Higa hit a shot to right that the right fielder misplayed for a three bag error. She scored on the ground ball to second by Reta for the Gator's final run.
Fein earned the win in game two, throwing 3.1 innings in relief. She allowed one hit, one run, with a walk and two strike outs. Guzman took the loss, going seven complete, allowing eight hits, five runs, all earned, with six walks and a strike out.
The series will resume tomorrow at Noon. Saturday will be Senior Day. In a pre-game ceremony, SF State will say goodbye to six spectacular student athletes.
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