BOX SCORE 1 |
BOX SCORE 2 GAME 1: San Francisco State 4, Sonoma State 1 -- Box Score
GAME 2: Sonoma State 8, San Francisco State 0 (5 innings) -- Box Score
ROHNERT PARK -- After suffering a CCAA-opening 4-1 loss to San Francisco State in game one, the Sonoma State softball team pounded out eight runs on 10 hits and a solo home run by
Keisi Chinen in the bottom of the fifth inning secured an impressive 8-0 mercy-rule victory in five innings to split Friday's doubleheader at the Seawolf Softball Field.
Hayley Condon was unstoppable at the plate, combining to go 4 for 6 with a double, a home run, an RBI and three runs scored in the twinbill, helping the Seawolves move to 6-3 this season (1-1 CCAA). The Gators, who had won four of their first five games heading into Friday's contests, are now 5-2 overall (1-1 CCAA).
Click here to watch Chinen's walk-off home run in the fifth inning of game two to give SSU the 8-0, mercy-rule victory over SFSU on Friday.
GAME 1: San Francisco State 4, Sonoma State 1 -- Box Score
Both teams got off to a slow start offensively as they would be faced with the pitching ace of each squad, San Francisco State's Marisa Ibarra and Sonoma State's
Samantha Lipperd. It would be Ibarra that would get the early run support when the Gators scored three runs in the top of the third inning on a three-run home run by Kylie Grabowski to right center field. Lipperd ran into a bit more trouble, walking the next three batters, still with just one out. However, the senior All-American worked herself out of the jam, getting Sarah Catania to stikeout and Kelsey Murakami to groundout, ending the threat.
The Gators tacked on another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Murakami, scoring Catania from second to give SFSU a 4-0 lead.
The Seawolf offense remained dormant against Ibarra until the sixth inning when Condon blasted a one-out double to right field. She then came around to score on an RBI single by
Olivia Lucchese through the left side; it was Lucchese's first collegiate base hit. That was all SSU would get across in the inning and the hosts would go into the seventh inning down by three at 4-1.
Lipperd retired all three batters in order to start the seventh and in Sonoma's final at bat,
Danielle D'Eccliss gave the team a bit of life with a leadoff single up the middle. However, D'Eccliss would be caught stealing, then Ibarra retired
Megan Konieczka and
Ancia Purdy in order to give SF State the series-opening 4-1 win. Ibarra improved to a perfect 4-0 on the year, allowing eight Seawolf hits, giving up just one run while striking out four. Courtney Gravel and Catania led SFSU with a pair of hits each, but it would be the three-run bomb by Grabowski in the third that proved to be the difference.
Her counterpart, Lipperd, scattered nine Gator hits, while allowing four runs and five walks, in addition to fanning seven batters. Condon, Palermo and Lucchese each recorded two hits apiece.
GAME 2: Sonoma State 8, San Francisco State 0 (5 innings) -- Box Score
The Seawolves wasted no time in putting runs on the scoreboard against SF State starter Emily Gibson, plating two in the bottom of the first inning on a two-RBI double by Palermo. Meanwhile, Sonoma State starter
Amanda Llerena breezed through the majority of the Gator lineup, allowing only three hits in four innings of work, she also struckout four.
It would be the bottom of the fourth inning that Sonoma State's bats began to heat up, as the hosts exploded for five runs on six hits to take a 7-0 lead in the game. Chinen, D'Eccliss,
Ashley Vignola, Konieczka and Purdy all got on base with a hit, all after the leadoff solo shot by Condon. The Seawolves threatened for more with the bases loaded and just one out, but Ali Garcia came on in relief of Gibson to draw a force out at home, followed by the inning-ending foul out by Palermo.
The Gators wouldn't go away quietly. They took advantage of
Katy Bihl, who came in for Llerena at the top of the fifth, and loaded the bases with a walk, an error and a single, all with no outs. However, Bihl settled down and retired the next three batters in order to leave the bases jammed.
In the bottom of the fifth, it took just two pitches to end the game. Chinen smashed a 1-0 pitch from Garcia and sent it up and over the left center field fence for the leadoff solo home run to end the ballgame at 8-0.
Llerena improved to 3-1 this season, while her counterpart, Gibson, fell to 1-1. Both Condon and Chinen had identical numbers at the plate in game two, each going 2 for 3 with a solo home run and two runs scored.
Sonoma State and San Francisco State will wrap up the four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader, slated to start at 11:00 a.m. at the Seawolf Softball Field.
