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Box Score 2 TURLOCK, Calif. – It is hard to lose softball games when you allow only one run every 14 innings. Humboldt State rode outstanding pitching and some timely hits to two victories to win its Pool Play group at the Tournament of Champions.
The Lumberjacks never trailed in their two Saturday contests. HSU scored two runs in both top of the second innings to help defeat Central Washington, 5-1, and Saint Martin's in a 2-0 shutout.
"(We had) two good games today. These are games that we needed to win," noted HSU head coach
Shelli Sarchett.
With the two wins, HSU finishes the two-day Pool Play with a 4-1 mark to claim the best record of the six-team Pool C. The Jacks will move into the Championship Gold Bracket for a 12:15 p.m. semifinal against Dominican University, which won Pool B.
HSU was led by two top-notch pitching performances by the sophomore duo of
Katie Obbema and
Liz Perez. The second-year hurlers allowed 10 hits and one run over 14 innings to go with 12 strikeouts.
"Both Katie and Lizzie threw great games today. They kept us in the ballgame and we were able to score enough runs," explained the HSU coach.
Alison McKibbon paced the HSU hitters with four singles, two in each game, and drove in a pair of runs.
Game 1: HSU 5, Central Washington 1 In the top of the second,
Hannah Williams drew a walk and
Sarah Fox singled through the left side. After two outs, McKibbon lofted a run-scoring single to short left field, before
Andrea Chavez followed with a hit to center to plate the second HSU tally for a 2-0 lead.
Central Washington (18-13) put a run on the board in the home second when Jill McDaniels homered to left center to make it 2-1.
HSU (32-10) would answer the one run.
Tiffany Hollingsworth slashed a double to the right field corner and moved to third when Williams ground out to second. Power-hitter
Dani Randall laid down a well-executed squeeze bunt to allow Hollingsworth to run home and 3-1 contest.
"Dani executed the squeeze perfectly which helped give us some insurance runs on the board," said Sarchett.
After three and a half scoreless innings,
Darian Harris lined a two-out double past first base. Hollingsworth scored Harris in the next at bat with a hit to right field. Williams was hit by a pitch, before Randall added a run-scoring single to left field for a second insurance run and 5-1 score.
Obbema (15-6) had only the one lapse with the second-inning home run. The second-year pitcher gave up only four hits over the last five scoreless frames for the win.
Hollingsworth doubled, singled, scored two runs and drove in one run. Randall had two RBIs and a single.
Game 2: HSU 2, Saint Martin's 0 In a quick-moving contest, HSU didn't give Perez many runs, but not many were needed.
As in the first game, HSU struck in its second trip to the plate. Williams, Randall and Fox produced three-straight singles to load the bases.
Pena hit into a fielder's choice and Saint Martin's (17-14) threw out pinch-runner
Miranda Romero out at home. McKibbon did not waste her turn with a single to shortstop to allow Randall to touch home plate. After a second force out at home,
Tonya Walker laced a sharp base hit to left field to score Pena and post a 2-0 lead.
Perez didn't need any more offense on her behalf. The sophomore allowed four singles and hit one batter over the first five innings. The Jacks pitcher saved her best for the final two innings, where she sent the Saints down in order for a four-hitter and HSU's second shutout of the season.
"The second game was a good game. Saint Martin's is a good competitive team," said the Jacks coach. "We took advantage of an opportunity that was given to us and scored two runs. We let Lizzie and the defense do the rest."
Perez (9-4) did not strike out a hitter in the first three innings, before fanning seven in the final four frames. In two Tournament of Champions outings, the Jacks pitcher has 20 strikeouts, while giving up only one earned run over 17 innings of work.
Randall and McKibbon singled two times apiece to lead the HSU hitters.
