SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State softball team picked up a non-conferene sweep of Academy of Art on Wednesday afternoon to pull back to .500.
10-2 in six innings
- SF State moves to 14-14 overall while the Urban Knights drop to 2-24.
- The Gators recorded six stolen bases on the day, giving the Gators 85 for the season to regain the national lead. Vallejos now has 82 career stolen bases and sits just six behind program leader Michelle Castro. Lehua DeLeon, who had two, and Vallejos, who had one, are tied for the team lead with 23 apiece and lead all CCAA players.
- In game one, Vallejos went 4-for-4 with two home runs, four runs, and four RBI. Vallejos' pair of homers give her 11 in her career, moving her into ninth place on the program's career leader list.
- SF State pounded out 11 hits in game one, marking the ninth time this season the Gators have collected 10 or more hits in a game. The team's nine RBI were the third most in a single game this season.
- SF State turned another double play in game one and leads the nation with 18 double plays turned.
GAME ONE
- The Gators plated three runs in the first. Vallejos singled and moved into scoring position on an errant throw, Lehua DeLeon doubled her home, and Kira Nilson drove a pair home when she sent the first pitch she saw to right center for a two-out single and a 3-0 Gators lead.
- SF State added on in the fifth. Vallejos led off with a homer to right center and Lehua DeLeon scored on Sydney Jenkins' sacrifice fly.
- The Urban Knights scored in the top of the sixth on Alyssa Rasmussen's RBI triple, followed by Lauryn Henderson's RBI single back up the middle.
- In the bottom of the sixth, Nugent reached on an error and Kai DeLeon singled. Vallejos ended the game early with a three-run shot, this time senidng a changeup over the wall in left center.
- Kaitlyn Maddux (6-9) earned the six-inning victory. She struck out five and did not issue a walk. Maddux allowed two runs on six hits.
- Jolene Rhoades (1-11) was charged with 10 runs, seven earned, in five and a third innings of work for the Urban Knights.
GAME TWO
- Vallejos led off game two with a single back up the middle, then stole second and got up and hustled over to third when the throw to second was airmailed into center field. She scored on Lehua DeLeon's RBI groundout to make it 1-0 early.
- SF State added another run in the second on Lexi Holihan's single back up the middle that plated Teya Vincent, who led off the inning with a single.
- ART U tied in the second thanks to a mixed defensive inning by the Gators. A single and a walk put runners on first and second for the Urban Knights. The Gators had pinch runner Maddie Sticka picked off at second but threw the ball away, which allowed her to score from second. Lexi Holihan had a heads up play at the hot corner when she fielded Rasmussen's bunt and threw behind the runner to Vincent covering at third for the tag. Rasmussen stole second and an errant throw allowed her to get to third, and she scored when a ball tipped off Nugent's glove for what would have been the third out. The Gators finally got out of the inning when Marley Gonzales threw a runner out at home to keep the game tied at 2-2.
- The Urban Knights got a pair of runners into scoring position with no outs in the fifth and the Gators nearly left the inning unscathed. Vincent tracked down a foul ball and Henderson flew out but Humphreys delivered a two-out single to shallow left field that cleared the bases and gave ART U a 4-2 lead.
- Vallejos and Lehua DeLeon led off the bottom half of the fifth with back-to-back doubles that pulled the Gators back to within a run and Vincent executed a sacrifice bunt that plated DeLeon to tie the game at 4-4. The Gators took the lead when Nilson legged out a chopper back to the pitcher that was mishandled. That allowed pinch runner Jazzy Contreras to score and gave the Gators the lead back, 5-4.
- ART U threatened in the seventh but Lehua DeLeon made an excellent play to keep the ball on the infield, then threw home to get the runner attempting to score.
- Taylor Kelly (2-2) tossed 83 pitches in the complete-game victory. She allowed four runs, two earned.
- Haley Arnold-Jolley (0-5) allowed five runs, three earned, in six innings and is still in search of her first win of the season for the Urban Knights.
The Gators have the weekend off before returning to CCAA play with a pair of doubleheader versus No. 25 Cal State San Marcos on Friday and Saturday, March 25 and 26. The road doubleheader versus the first-place Cougars will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com.
