SEASIDE, Calif. – One day into conference play and Humboldt State softball has already matched the two wins that last year's Lumberjacks had against Cal State Monterey Bay. The Jacks (7-1-1) defeated the Otters (5-4) in back-to-back games by scores of 7-3 and 5-1 on Friday afternoon.
"We knew we had to come out strong today," said Head Coach
Shelli Sarchett. "Monterey is tough, and they didn't quit. Katie and Maddie both threw really we and we got production from the whole lineup, especially the bottom."
Game 1: Humboldt State 7, Cal State Monterey Bay 3 After leaving two on in the first inning, Humboldt State made sure to capitalize in the second.
Darian Harris opened the frame with a double down the right field line, only to score as the next batter
Breonna Bejaran launched a two-run homerun to left field. The Green and Gold offense was not done, as
Cyndi Chavez and
Carly Perkins got aboard on back-to-back singles.
With one out in the inning, the Jacks picked up an extra run courtesy of a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt that advanced Perkins and scored Chavez. With two outs and Perkins still on third,
Tiffany Hollingsworth hit her third homer of the season to cap the five-run second.
HSU tacked on two more runs in the fourth, both with two outs already recorded. With
Kelly Sonnemann and Hollingsworth on the bags,
Julie Pena doubled to right center, scoring one. The next batter,
Sydney Roberts, promptly singled up the middle to score one more and give the Jacks the 7-0 lead.
Katie Obbema pitched her fourth complete game of the season, allowing just four hits over seven innings and striking out eight. Obbema's lone runs were allowed in the sixth inning when Bianca Noriega took her out of the park for three runs.
Game 2: Humboldt State 5, Cal State Monterey Bay 1 The Jacks scored first in the second game of the day as well. After three scoreless frames, it took a two-out rally to get the HSU offense going again. With the bases loaded, Harris reached on a fielding error to score a run and move everybody up 60 feet. Bejaran followed with an RBI single to plate Pena who doubled earlier in the inning. Chavez then took the first pitch she saw up the middle to score Kelly Paque before the Otters were able to get Harris out at home on the outfield assist. The Green and Gold finished the inning up 3-0.
Hollingworth led off the sixth inning with her conference-leading fourth homerun of the season. Bejaran added one more in the inning with her second RBI single of the game.
Madison Williams allowed her lone run of the game in the bottom of the sixth on a Noriega RBI single. Williams pitched seven strong, allowing five hits and striking out 11.
Up Next: These two CCAA teams are back at it on Saturday for the final two games of the series. Games are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
"We have to go out there tomorrow and do the same thing: Attack, attack, and attack some more. We can't let up because Monterey Bay is more than capable of taking games from us," said Sarchett. "If we play our game, we will continue to succeed."
