SEASIDE, Calif. -- After suffering a 3-1 loss in the series opener, the Sonoma State softball team rebounded with a 13-1 pounding of host Cal State Monterey Bay in five innings to force a doubleheader split between the two nationally-ranked teams on Friday in Seaside.
The 24th-ranked Seawolves dropped to second place in the CCAA standings with a 15-6 record, moving to 28-11 overall while the 5th-ranked Otters fell to third in the conference at 15-7 (31-9 overall), both teams now looking up at Humboldt State, which swept a four-game series with Cal State Dominguez Hills this weekend to rise to 17-6 in the CCAA (32-10 overall).
The Seawolves outhit the Otters 21-10 in the doubleheader with nine of the hits coming in the 3-1 loss to begin the day. In that game, Sonoma took a 1-0 lead on an
Olivia Lucchese double that scored
Ashley Long in the top of the second inning, but that would be all that CSUMB pitcher Cori Reinhardt (18-2) would allow, despite scattering the aforementioned nine hits off of the Seawolf bats. The difference of the ballgame was Jenae Coleman's pinch-hit three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning to give the Otters the 3-1 lead, and eventual victory.
Carlie Daniel and
Amanda Rossetta each had two hits in game one.
Amanda Llerena was tagged with the loss even though she held the power-hitting CSUMB lineup to just three hits. She also walked two and struckout six.
In the nightcap, Sonoma State scored early and often, plating three runs in the top of the first inning, five in the third and five more in the fourth to later induce the eight-run mercy rule and handing Cal State Monterey Bay its worst loss of the season.
Taylor Batey got the fun started almost immediately, smashing a three-run home run to straight-away center field for the 3-0 lead, scoring Rossetta and
Keeley Ray. The Otters got a run back in their first at bat on a first-and-third double steal play, but that would be all that Llerena and reliever
Gabby Dupree would give up the rest of the way.
Batey brought home two more runs in the third inning on a single through the left side scoring Daniel and Ray for the 5-1 lead. Long brought home Batey with a single, then
Jordann White recorded the first two RBI of her career on a pinch-hit two-run double to left center, scoring Long and
Holli Brown to give SSU the 8-1 lead after three innings.
The Seawolves added to their lead in the fourth with five more runs, all coming on home runs. Rossetta went deep to right center for two runs before Brown put Sonoma up big, 13-1, with a three-run shot of her own.
Meanwhile, Llerena (17-7) got the win, giving up the one run on five hits in her three innings of work. Dupree worked the final two innings, giving up two hits and two walks, striking out two and holding CSUMB scoreless.
Daniel, Rossetta, Batey and Brown all had two hits for the Seawolves, who tallied 12 in the contest. Lindsay Clarkson (12-6) was tagged with the loss for the Otters after giving up the first eight runs in 2.2 innings pitched.
Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay will return to battle for the final two games of the series on Saturday in Seaside. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.
