SAN FRANCISCO – The San Francisco State softball team kept it close against the No. 2 Chico State Wildcats on Friday but dropped the doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 10-6 (9).
The Wildcats (45-3/35-3 CCAA) took a 1-0 lead on Ari Marsh's bloop single to left that scored Kristin Worley in the first. The Gators (24-29/19-19 CCAA) struggled offensively against the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Year Haley Gilham and were hitless through three.
In the top of the fourth, Wayne hit a pop-up that was sailing over the fence in foul territory near first, but
Katie Rohrer made a great catch over the top of the fence to get the out.
Michelle Castro got the first SF State hit in the fourth on a sharp base hit that went just off the glove of the diving Wendy Cardinali at short.
Meanwhile,
Lindsey Cassidy held Chico State to just two hits through six and got strong defensive play behind her. In the bottom of the sixth,
Kylee Brown walked and reached second on a wild pitch with one down. She moved to third on Castro's groundout to the pitcher, but she was left stranded unable to knot the score.
Chico State added two more insurance runs in the seventh as Angel Lopez and Cardinali came across to make it 3-0.
Cassidy went all seven with three strikeouts and held the Wildcats to just four hits. Castro and Rohrer recorded hits for SF State.
In game two, the Gators got two early runs in the second inning. Rohrer led off with a walk, and with one down,
Sara Higa singled to right-center.
Mallory Cleveland then came up and hit a single to right that scored Rohrer from second and moved HIga to third. Next batter
Angelica Terrel got a base hit to left that plated Higa for the 2-0 advantage.
Chico State knotted the score in the fourth as they scored a pair. In the fifth the Gators strung together a two-out rally to regain the lead. Castro singled to left and stole second.
Andrea Hildan then singled to left to plate Castro and advanced to third on the throw. After
Hayley Nunes walked, she stole second and Hildan scored on the throw for the second run of the inning. Next batter Rohrer then roped a double to deep center field to score Nunes and put the hosts up 5-2.
SF State added another in the sixth as Castro plated Cleveland on a single. With two outs in the seventh Chico State's Amanda Flores hit a grand slam to tie things up and force extras. SF State loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but Nunes was thrown out at the plate to end the inning and send it to extras.
The Wildcats took their first lead of the contest in the ninth as they scored four on a pair of hits to take the 10-6 win.
This was just the second time this season the Wildcats have been forced into extras.
Karla Soto got the start and went 8.2 with three strikeouts. Castro and Cleveland both notched a pair of hits.
Up Next
The Gators wrap up the series tomorrow with a twin bill starting at 11 a.m. SF State will also honor its seniors who will be playing in their final regular season game for the Gators.
