ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – The Sonoma State softball team earned themselves at least a share of the 2024 CCAA regular season title with a doubleheader sweep of San Francisco State 4-0 and 3-2. The Seawolves secured their second straight championship after winning the conference last season. SSU moved to 29-15 overall and are 22-10 in CCAA play with two games left to play.
Bailee Reed, the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week continued her dominance on the mound, hurling a two-hit complete game shutout. She struck out a season high eight batters and earned her 16
th win of the season. Reed's defense was on display in the 1
st inning when she saved a run with a flip out of her glove on squeeze bunt to get the runner trying to take home.
Offensively the Seawolves got going in the bottom of the 2
nd, plating three runs to take an early lead.
Jasmine Moreno led off the inning with a walk and came in to score the first run on a triple to wall by
Skylar Linnane.
Carissa Marquez then score Linnane with a single up the middle. Three batters later
Giana Hays made it 3-0 with a line drive into right field.
That would prove to be more than enough as Reed cruised through the rest of the game without allowing the Gators to score. She retired the last eight batters she faced, including getting two strikeouts in the 7
th. The Seawolves final run came in to score after a
Rylee Nishimoto and a RBI grounder by Hays. Nishimoto finished with a game high three hits with Hays adding a pair of RBIs.
The win in the opener put Sonoma State just one win away from clinching the back-to-back title. The Seawolves wasted little time getting ahead, using a single by
Anna Zoia-Buescher, a walk by Nishimoto and a hit by pitch to
Lauren Mirtoni to lead the bases. Moreno then drew a walk to score the first run. The Gators evened the score in the top of the 3
rd with an unearned run off starter
Nichole Sarra but the tie would not last past the bottom of the frame.
Mirtoni led off the inning with a single before
Kaiya Dickens added a two-out hit to give SSU a pair of baserunners. Linnane then delivered the big hit with a single down the right field line to score Mirtoni. Dickens later scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-1.
Charlie Johnson came on in relief of Sarra and shut SFSU down through the next three innings. The Gators were able to get one run off Johnson in the 7
th but she was able to end the game with back-to-back groundouts. Johnson improved to 8-3 on the season with 4.1 innings of work, allowing just one run.
Zoia-Buescher led the way with three hits while Nishimoto added a pair to up her total to five on the day. Linnane and Moreno picked up RBIs.
The Seawolves can secure the outright CCAA title tomorrow with a one win or one Cal State Dominguez Hills loss. Sonoma State will host the regular season finale with a doubleheader against the Gators starting at 12:00 pm. The team will honor their six seniors with a ceremony following the second game! Tune in on the CCAA Network to watch the games and the ceremony!
