IRVINE, Calif. — The San Francisco State softball team split a pair of games on day two of the Concordia Kickoff Classic at Orange County Great Park. The Gators fell 6-4 in extra innings to No. 3 Biola and picked up a 3-0 win in the nightcap, over Azusa Pacific.
- SF State moves to 2-2 on the young season. The nationally-ranked Eagles moved to 3-1 while APU is 3-2.
- The Gators were busy on the basepaths yet again and were a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts in the two games. The Gators are now 17-for-19 on the season.
- Brylynn Vallejos was 4-for-8 on the day and raised her average to a team-leading .467. She also scored and drove in a run, and swiped two bases.
- Sydney Jenkins went 3-for-5 versus Biola and went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice versus APU.
- Gators pitchers allowed six runs on 11 hits and struck out 10 over 16 innings of work.
GAME ONE
- The Gators scored three runs and knocked out starter Raylene Roybal after just a third of an inning. Vallejos tripled up the middle, Lehua DeLeon walked and stole second, then Holihan brought plated Vallejos and reached safely on a fielder's choice. Kira Nilson and Gwen Helmer recorded back-to-back singles to make it 3-0.
- The Eagles got back into the game in the fourth with back-to-back RBI singles from Madison Blossey and Maddie Riley. SF State threatened in the bottom half of the inning but stranded a pair.
- Riley led off the seventh with a triple when Gwen Helmer tried to lay out for the diving catch but the ball skipped past her. Gators starter Kaitlyn Maddux punched out Allie Beck but Riley got in under the tag on a Jennifer Morinishi fielder's choice to tie the game at 3-3.
- With the international tiebreaker in effect, the Eagles scored in the top half of the eighth but the Gators answered when Lehua DeLeon legged out a bobbled ball, which allowed Jazzy Contreras to score.
- In the ninth, with runners on the corners, a wild pitch and throwing error allowed both runners to score to make it 6-4 in favor of the Eagles. The Gators had runners to second and third in the bottom half but left them stranded.
- Kaitlyn Maddux went the distance yet again but took her second loss of the season. She allowed eight hits over nine innings and struck out five.
- Austin Paige (3-0) struck out a dozen and earned the win after going eight and two thirds in relief. Roybal surrendered three runs and recorded just one out on 23 pitches.
GAME TWO
- Lehua DeLeon manufactured a run in the first. She doubled, stole third and scored when the catcher's throw sailed into the outfield.
- Halle Nugent led off the fourth with a single. Pinch runner Kai DeLeon later scored on Gwen Helmer's sac fly to double the lead.
- Vallejos added an insurace run with a sac fly in the seventh that scored Taya Vincent, who led off the inning with a single through the right side.
- Madeline Eshbach was stingy in her first Gators start. She struck out five and scattered three hits.
- Liz Phillips (1-2) took the loss for the Cougars. She allowed two runs, one earned, in four and a third innings. Katie Korstrom allowed a run on three hits in two and two thirds innings of relief.
SF State wraps up the Concordia Kickoff Classic on Sunday, February 6 at 9 a.m. versus Western Oregon. The game will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com.
