California Golden Bears Athletics
Sunday, May 5
Tempe, AZ
12:00 PM
California
6
at
10
Arizona State
Photo by: Peter Fukumae
Bears Comeback Falls Short vs Sun Devils
5/5/2019 4:06 PM | Softball
TEMPE, Ariz. – California's bats began to talk in the back half of the day at Arizona State, allowing the team to find the board in each of the last four frames.
After going yard on Saturday, freshman Makena Smith jacked her second two-run shot of the series to get the Golden Bears on the board in the top of the fourth, that led to a string of six hits and six runs across the next four frames.
The Bears (28-27, 5-18 Pac-12) cut into the Sun Devils' 7-0 lead coming within two in the top of the sixth after Mikayla Coelho found her swing again this weekend with a two-run dinger of her own to move things to 7-5.
Senior ace Zoe Conley came in as relief in the bottom of the third for Kamalani Dung (13-10) who was credited with the loss after giving up five runs in the first two innings.
Conley allowed two runs in her first series, but kept the Sun Devils (30-18, 10-11 Pac-12) off the board in the fourth and fifth innings to balance the Bears offensive efforts. In 4.0 innings, the Berkeley native gave up five runs, retired four and walked one.
Unfortunately, the late surge from the Bears would not be enough as the Sun Devils found the plate three times to keep things out of reach.
"I'm proud of our effort this weekend," said head coach Diane Ninemire. "We had some great performances from Conley and Kama in the circle and outstanding performance from Makena Smith who led us in RBI this weekend.
"Amani Bradley and Sabrina Nunez put on a clinic with the short game and it was great to see Mikayla Coelho hit her stride again after being out. Lauren Espalin has been reliable for us all season and has gotten deep into counts battling at the plate. So overall we've been battling with the nation's best all season and things didn't always fall in our favor, but I think we showed what we're made of."
Cal came across the plate one more time in the seventh on an RBI ground out by Coelho to bring Smith home from third to provide the final 10-6 margin.
The Bears finish the regular season just over .500 as Ninemire records her 32nd winning season in her tenure. Under the Hall of Fame head coach, Cal has had just one losing season when it went 24-29 in 2014, which was also the only season Ninemire's Bears did not advance to post season.
Cal awaits its postseason fate during its bye-week before Sunday's selection show. Heading into the series with ASU, the Bears were ranked 63rd in the RPI and would need to move up quite a bit to jump into NCAA contention. Saturday's win against the Sun Devils, who sit in 27th in the RPI, could help the Bears climb a few spots.
The selection show is scheduled for May 12. Time and broadcast information are forthcoming.
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
After going yard on Saturday, freshman Makena Smith jacked her second two-run shot of the series to get the Golden Bears on the board in the top of the fourth, that led to a string of six hits and six runs across the next four frames.
The Bears (28-27, 5-18 Pac-12) cut into the Sun Devils' 7-0 lead coming within two in the top of the sixth after Mikayla Coelho found her swing again this weekend with a two-run dinger of her own to move things to 7-5.
Senior ace Zoe Conley came in as relief in the bottom of the third for Kamalani Dung (13-10) who was credited with the loss after giving up five runs in the first two innings.
Conley allowed two runs in her first series, but kept the Sun Devils (30-18, 10-11 Pac-12) off the board in the fourth and fifth innings to balance the Bears offensive efforts. In 4.0 innings, the Berkeley native gave up five runs, retired four and walked one.
Unfortunately, the late surge from the Bears would not be enough as the Sun Devils found the plate three times to keep things out of reach.
"I'm proud of our effort this weekend," said head coach Diane Ninemire. "We had some great performances from Conley and Kama in the circle and outstanding performance from Makena Smith who led us in RBI this weekend.
"Amani Bradley and Sabrina Nunez put on a clinic with the short game and it was great to see Mikayla Coelho hit her stride again after being out. Lauren Espalin has been reliable for us all season and has gotten deep into counts battling at the plate. So overall we've been battling with the nation's best all season and things didn't always fall in our favor, but I think we showed what we're made of."
Cal came across the plate one more time in the seventh on an RBI ground out by Coelho to bring Smith home from third to provide the final 10-6 margin.
The Bears finish the regular season just over .500 as Ninemire records her 32nd winning season in her tenure. Under the Hall of Fame head coach, Cal has had just one losing season when it went 24-29 in 2014, which was also the only season Ninemire's Bears did not advance to post season.
Cal awaits its postseason fate during its bye-week before Sunday's selection show. Heading into the series with ASU, the Bears were ranked 63rd in the RPI and would need to move up quite a bit to jump into NCAA contention. Saturday's win against the Sun Devils, who sit in 27th in the RPI, could help the Bears climb a few spots.
The selection show is scheduled for May 12. Time and broadcast information are forthcoming.
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
RHP
/ Softball
C
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
C
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