SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State softball team was swept on Saturday by visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills in a pair of CCAA doubleheaders. The Gators dropped a 5-4 decision in game one and 7-2 in game two.
- With the two games, SF State slides to 17-23 overall and 7-16 in CCAA play while Cal State Dominguez Hills improves to 29-14 and 17-10 in conference action. The Gators remain in seventh place behind Cal State East Bay, who they'll face next week.
- The Gators have gone 2-8 over their last ten games and have faced an extremely tough portion of the CCAA schedule, going winless in their last three conference matchups, which came against three of the league's top four teams.
- Brylynn Vallejos hit her seventh home run of the season and her 14th career home run in game two. That moves Vallejos into a tie for No. 7 on the program's all-time leader list with Kelsey Wood (2008-11).
- Lehua DeLeon hit her first homer of the season and has now homered in all three seasons as a Gator.
- Lexi Holihan went 3-for-3 with a run in game one and was 2-for-3 in game two.
GAME ONE
- The Toros grabbed the lead in the first on Claudia Valencia's sacrifice fly.
- The Gators countered in the second. Holihan began a two-out rally with a double to right center and she came home to score on Dani Guerrera's RBI triple to right center. Guerrera scored on an error and the Gators took a 2-1 lead.
- A Gators error to begin the third proved costly. That set up runners on first and second with one out and a five-pitch walk loaded the bases. Valencia singled up the middle to tie the game and Kaylee Hull gave the Toros the lead with a two-out single. Maiya Lopez followed with a two-run double to left center that grew the lead to 5-2.
- Vallejos doubled home a run in the fifth to make it 5-3.
- SF State threatened with a two-out rally in the sixth but stranded a pair.
- In the seventh, Lehua DeLeon launched a two-out homer down the right field line inside of the right field foul pole but that's as close as the Gators would get.
- Kaitlyn Maddux (7-15) gave up five runs, just one earned, on six hits in two and two thirds innings of work.
- Madeline Eshbach was stellar out of the bullpen for the Gators. She tossed four and a third scoreless innings of relief.
- Ashley Wies (15-5) went four and a third innings and picked up the win for the Toros.
- Alyssa Olague worked two and two thirds and picked up her second save of the season.
GAME TWO
- Abellera put the Toros up early with a first-inning homer to center field.
- CSUDH doubled its lead in the third on Katelyn Sturm's RBI double to left center that scored Valencia all the way from first.
- In the fifth, Valencia singled, stole second, and scored on Hull's double to left center.
- SF State got the run back in the bottom of the fourth on Lehua DeLeon's RBI groundout.
- In the sixth, Valencia kept her hot streak going with a two-run double to right center that grew the Toros' lead to 5-1.
- CSUDH added two more runs in the seventh to make it 7-1.
- Vallejos got a run back in the seventh with an opposite-field blast to left field.
- Gators starter Taylor Kelly (3-5) threw 51 pitches and gave up a pair of runs in three innings.
- Eshbach came out of the bullpen again in game two and gave up five runs in relief.
- Olague (15-9) gave up two runs on seven hits in her second outing of the day.
The Gators head across the bridge to take on Cal State East Bay next Friday and Saturday, April 15-16, in a pivotal CCAA matchup that could help determine which team heads to Seaside for the 2022 CCAA Softball Tournament. The series will be broadcast on the CCAA Network with live stats available at sfstategators.com.
