HAYWARD, Calif. — The San Francisco State softball team split its CCAA doubleheader at Cal State East Bay on Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Softball Field. The Gators fell 2-1 in eight innings in game one and shutout the Pioneers 2-0 in the second game of the day.
- SF State moves to 16-21 and to 12-14 in CCAA play. The Gators remain in sixth place behind the Pioneers, who move to 21-14 overall and 13-11 in CCAA play.
- The Gators are now 8-7 in one-run ballgames and 3-1 in extra-inning games.
- Gators pitchers Mari Takeda Bajan and Elise Roy pitched well, despite the Gators splitting the doubleheader.
- Takeda Bajan was on the losing end of another tough loss despite striking out a career-high dozen and issuing just one walk. She has lost her last seven outings. In those games, she's allowed just 15 earned runs but the Gators have scored just 13 total runs and averaged just 5.71 hits per game over that span. Despite her lack of run support, Takeda Bajan still ranks 11th among CCAA pitchers with a 2.57 ERA.
- Meanwhile Roy is 7-3 over her last 10 starts and now owns a team-leading 2.34 ERA, which is sixth lowest among CCAA pitchers.
- Kai DeLeon had a rare hitless day, though she had game one's RBI. She and Marley Gonzales, who had a hit in game two, share the team lead with a .319 batting average.
- Defensively, Gonzales had a strong day behind the dish. She caught a pair of runners stealing and also threw behind a runner at first for the pickoff. Meanwhile, the Gators had four stolen bases.
- DeLeon had two of those stolen bases and is now second among CCAA players with 18. She has 44 in three seasons, which ties her for seventh all-time in program history with her sister, Lehua DeLeon.
- Rylee McDaniel and Mia Misasi both had a pair of hits in game two as SF State outhit CSUEB 8-3 in that game.
Game One
- The Pioneers struck first in the bottom of the first. Garcia won a 2-2 count and tripled to right center, then scored on Ashlee Toy's bloop single to left field.
- SF State tied the game in the third on a DeLeon fielder's choice. Pinch runner Olivia Clavero, who ran for Marisa Jordan after she reached on an error, scored easily from third.
- The game remained knotted until the eighth inning. Mari Takeda Bajan struck out the first two batters of the frame but gave up three straight singles with catcher Adriana Martinez driving in the winning run with a single to right field.
- Takeda Bajan struck out a career-high dozen and issued just one walk. She gave up eight hits. Of those eight, two came in the first inning and resulted in a run and three came in the eight inning when the Pioneers scored the winning run.
- Pioneers starter Marissa Quintero (13-5) earned the game one victory. The one run allowed was unearned and she scattered four hits. She did not walk out a batter and had three strikeouts.
Game Two
- The Gators' two runs came in the fourth and fifth innings. Phoebe Schultz, who returned to the lineup on Thursday for the first time since March 30, delievered a two-out double over the center fielder's head that scored Daniella Guerrera, who had reached prior on a single.
- Misasi started the fifth inning with a single and two batters later, she scored from second on Rylee McDaniel's single up the middle.
- SF State's defense came up big to keep the Pioneers off the board. In the third, Amelia Morales tried to stretch a leadoff double into three bases but Daniella Guerrera hit DeLeon for the relay to third, where Morales was tagged easily by Lexi Holihan. In the fourth, Sarissa Block led off with a single but was picked off at first by Gonzales. Gonzales also threw out Morales in the fifth inning.
- Roy (10-6) worked out of a jam with runners on first and second in the first, and again in the third inning. After that, she faced just one over the minimum. She scattered three hits. She had two strikeouts and walked five.
- Ashlee Toy (8-8) went five innings in a losing effort for the Pioneers. She allowed both Gators runs on seven hits.
- Quintero came on in relief and gave up a hit in two scoreless innings of work.
The Gators head back to Cal State East Bay to finish the four-game series with another doubleheader beginning at Noon on Friday, April 12. The series will be streamed on the
CCAA Network and live stats will be available at
sfstategators.com/livestats_sb.