LAS VEGAS — The San Francisco State softball team opened up the season with a split at the Desert Stinger hosted by MSU Billings. The Gators opened with an 11-1 win over Western Oregon in six innings and dropped a close 8-7 decision to Central Washington in the second game of the day.
- All-American Brylynn Vallejos left off where she left off in her record-setting freshman campaign. Vallejos finished the day 2-for-5 with three runs, three RBI, and three walks.
- In the two games, SF State racked up 20 hits, including 13 in game one, scored 18 runs, and tallied 16 RBI.
- The Gators drew a dozen walks in the two games and struck out just twice. SF State also swiped eight bases.
- Natalie Minteer picked up the Gators' first win of the season, as well as the team's first loss. She tossed four innings and allowed eight opponent runs.
- Emily Mitchell appeared in both games and combined for eight innings. She allowed a run and struck out seven.
GAME ONE
- The Wolves, who are receiving votes in the Top 25 poll, scored first on Chandler Bishop's two-out infield single in the first inning.
- SF State broke things open in the second inning. A baserunning lapse appeared to kill a Gators rally but Katie Rohrer kept the inning alive with a two-out homer. Sydney Jenkins single and stole second, then Samantha Alvarez was hit by a pitch. Lehua DeLeon gave the Gators the lead with a single to center. Vallejos singled home two more to make it 4-1 and later scored when she and Michelle Castro executed a double steal and scored on a throwing error.
- SF State worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. The Gators got a quick pair of groundouts but walked the bases loaded before striking out Tyler Creach.
- In the bottom of the fourth, Jenkins led off the inning with a single and later scored on a Vallejos triple. A fielding error allowed Vallejos to score before the Gators left the bases loaded. They also left the bases loaded in the fifth.
- A walk, wild pitch, and fielding error loaded the bases for the Gators in the sixth inning. Rohrer laid down a sacrifice bunt to make it 8-1. Samantha Luckie was intentionally walked and two batters later, DeLeon walked it off with a bases-clearing double to left field.
- Mitchell went four innings and allowed one run on four hits. She walked five and struck out five.
- Minteer picked up the win in relief with two scoreless innings. She allowed two hits and struck out a pair.
- Reilly Tidwell pitched five and two thirds innings for WOU. She was charged with nine earned runs on 13 hits. She walked seven and did not record a strikeout.
GAME TWO
- The Gators jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first. Vallejos walked, then stole second and then third. Luckie reached on an error and both scored on a Katelyn Sturm single back to the circle. Jenkins also singled back to the circle, which brought home Sturm. Tianna Jacques capped off the inning with a two-out, two-run homer to center.
- SF State added another run in the second but allowed two in the bottom half of the inning.
- Alyssa Benthagen's two-run homer in the third cut the lead to 6-4. An error and a walk set up another run, and Katie Cunningham's double gave CWU a 7-6 lead and chased Minteer. Allie Thiesse added an insurance run with an RBI single to right before the Gators got out of the inning.
- A two-out rally came up short in the sixth. The Gators drew a pair of walks but failed to plate a run.
- Rohrer cut the lead to one in the seventh with a double but was thrown out at third. Jenkins walked and tried to score from first on Jacques' double but was thrown out at home to end the game.
- Minteer didn't fare as well in the nightcap and did not record an out in the momentum-shifting third inning. Minteer was hit for eight runs, seven earned, on just six hits in two innings of work. Mitchell did not allow a run in four innings of relief.
- Taylor Williams picked up the win for CWU despite allowing six runs in five and two thirds innings. Lexie Strasser allowed one run in one and one third inning of relief.
The tournament continues on Saturday as the Gators face Regis and Oklahoma Christian. Play wraps up on Sunday, February 2 with a 2 p.m. game versus Simon Fraser. Be sure to follow San Francisco State Softball on Twitter and Instagram at @sfstate_sb.
