March 26, 2010
Final Stats
DAVIS, Calif. - The No. 14 California softball team stung Sacramento State twice in the third and once in the sixth to earn a 3-1 win over the Hornets on Friday. The game, which was played at UC Davis' La Rue Field as part of this weekend's Aggie Stampede, was Cal's third consecutive victory and saw the Golden Bears improve to 25-6 while Sac State falls to 8-21.
The top of the third began with a Frani Echavarria single to right field. Echavarria moved to second when Shannon Thomas got aboard with a bunt single to short. Junior pitcher Valerie Arioto, the Pac-10 leader in walks, earned her 33rd walk of the season to load the bases with no outs.
Sac State caught a break when Lindsey Ziegenhirt flied out to right to get one out. But with the bases still juiced with Bears, Jace Williams earned an RBI walk to score Echavarria and continue to have four Cal players aboard.
With Thomas at third, Arioto at second and Williams at first, Vernae Sevilla had a sac fly to center, scoring Thomas and moving Arioto and Williams to third and second, respectively. The runs scored by Echavarria and Thomas proved just enough for the Bears to forage ahead to victory.
Cal's next hit came in the top of the sixth when Sevilla had a lead-off single to third. Speedster Jamie Reid, who paces the Pac-10 in steals, pinch ran for Sevilla and advanced to second on a sacrifice ground out by Taylor Kelly. Reid moved to third, prime scoring position, on a wild pitch. Elia Reid fouled out to catcher, but it was perfect for her sister Jamia, for she scored Cal's final run of the game.
In the bottom of the seventh, Sacramento State was able to piece some offense together when CSUS' Jenice Bartee had a lead-off triple to her defensive territory of right field. Bartee stayed grounded on the hot corner while Jolene Henderson got Hornet Marissa Navarro on a swinging strike out.
Next up, however, was Molly Smith, who grounded out to third base, giving Bartee the perfect chance to break the scoring drought for Sac State. With two outs, Henderson and the Bear defense got left fielder Kelly Shepard to ground out to end the inning without any further damage and the 3-1 win.
Henderson pitched the complete seven-inning win with 10 strike outs and allowing just the one earned run and three hits.
Offensively for the Bears, Shannon Thomas paved the way with three hits while Arioto earned three walks, pushing her season total to 36.
Next up, Cal continues its weekend on Saturday by facing off against Riverside (1:15 p.m.) and Saint Mary's (3:30 p.m.) before closing with host Davis on Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
To read head coach Diane Ninemire's take on Wednesday's 8-0 win over Pacific as well as this weekend, please check out this week's edition of Weekly Q&A with Diane Ninemire by clicking here.
