SAN FRANCISCO — The San Francisco State softball team showed that it can hang with anybody in a doubleheader split on Friday versus No. 15 Cal State San Marcos. The Gators fell late, 4-3, in game one but took the nightcap with a well-rounded 6-0 victory.
- With the split, SF State moves to 10-13 overall and 3-9 in CCAA action while the Cougars move to 17-8 and 13-5 in CCAA action.
- Seven different batters recorded a hit in game one. Five different Gators had hits in game two, including Mattie Scott, who recorded her first collegiate hit, a double down the left field line that landed between defenders.
- Liana Gonzalez went 2-for-2 in game one and finished her day 3-for-5 with a grand slam, four RBIs, a pair of runs, and a walk.
- Marley Gonzales had a three-run homer and scored a pair of runs.
- Phoebe Schultz and Gonzales each had a stolen base.
- Pitchers Brooklyn Heffernan and Kaitlyn Maddux both threw complete games, the sixth of the season for each.
- The Gators were without their top hitter, Kai DeLeon, who was injured in the Cal Poly Humboldt series.
- Both of the game's catchers, Gonzales and CSUSM's Gianna Lombardi, sport the number 11.
Game 1
- The Cougars took an early lead with a run in each of the first two innings. The wind was a factor all day as Paige Donnelly displayed in the first inning when her two-out fly ball bounced off the top of the fence in front of the scoreboard for her fourth home run of the year and an early Cougars lead.
- In the second, a Makenzie Guiliano hit back up the middle under Heffernan's glove plated a second run.
- The Gators threatened in the third but Marissa Jordan was picked off at third base for the second out. SF State grabbed the lead in the fifth when Gonzales connected on a 2-0 pitch. The ball kept carrying for a three-run homer to left center and a Gators lead.
- The Gators stranded a pair in the sixth and it proved costly when the Cougars struck for two runs in the seventh. The tying run scored on a Madison Waymire sac fly and the go-ahead run crossed the plate two batters later when Donnelly singled to right field.
- Heffernan gave up four runs, all earned, on nine hits. She struck out two and walked a pair.
- Savannah Coyle lasted five and a third innings in the start for the Cougars. She gave up eight hits and struck out two but was chased after the Gonzales home run.
- Zoe Ballen (3-2) earned the win with an inning and two thirds of scoreless relief.
Game 2
- After the Cougars stranded a pair in the top of the first, the Gators scratched out a run for an early lead. Gonzales drew a leadoff walk, moved up on a sac bunt, took advantage of a failed pickoff and stole third, and scored on a Kira Nilson ground ball to second that was mishandled.
- The Gators doubled the lead in the third when Maddie Scott, who was on third after an errant throw, scored from third on a double-play ball.
- Daniella Guerrera, Teya Vincent, and Jade Johnson all reached to start the fourth inning, and Gonzalez sent the first pitch she saw for a grand slam to left center that made it 6-0.
- Maddux (5-4) needed just 87 pitches and scattered eight hits over seven innings. She walked two and struck out one.
- Jayline Sloss (5-4) lasted three innings and was chased by the grand slam. She walked three and struck out four.
- Tayler Shelton allowed two hits and struck out a pair with one walk over the next three innings.
The series continues on Saturday, March 25 with another doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m. The games will be broadcast on the
CCAA Network with live stats available at
sfstategators.com. In-game updates will also available on Twitter at
@sfstate_sb.
