TURLOCK, Calif. -- Cal Poly Humboldt closed out their weekend at the 21st Annual Tournament of Champions against the University of Hawai'i Hilo in Turlock. Holding a 2-2 record in the tournament and fresh off head coach Megan Corriea's 500th career win, the 'Jacks aimed to finish strong and that's exactly what happened behind the arm of junior pitcher Gaige Garcia. Garcia pitched a complete game and recorded a career-high nine strikeouts in the 2-1 win over the Vulcans. Julia Rivera and Hailey Meisenbach each had two hits, while Alyssa Smokey and Katlyn Gifford each had RBI doubles. 

"This weekend started off a little rough and it was really good to see the team fight back throughout the weekend," said head coach Megan Corriea. "I felt like we played some pretty good teams and we got better as we went. The team got their fight back, especially after the long two and a half weeks off that hurt us a little bit. We had some momentum going and we lost it when we went to the Bay Area. Getting back into it and having our pitchers get back into rotation really helped a lot. I'm just glad we got innings, we needed to get our rhythm back."

Gaige Garcia dominated the first three innings against Hilo, as she stuck out six of nine batters to start the game. Humboldt leaned on this momentum and scored a run in the bottom of the third inning after back-to-back doubles from Hailey Meisenbach and Alyssa Smokey. The Vulcans responded in the next half inning with a run of their own on two hits, making it a 1-1 game. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Meisenbach got on base again with a single up the middle. Two batters later, first baseman Katlyn Gifford hit a screaming line drive down the right field line to bring Meisenbach home. In the circle, Garcia only allowed one baserunner the rest of the game and Humboldt held on to beat UH Hilo with a score of 2-1. 

"Good for her, that's huge," said coach Megan Corriea when told about Garcia's career-high nine strikeouts. "Gaige struggled in that first game against Western Oregon and to see her bounce back in such a big way like this is great to see as we head back into CCAA play next week against Sonoma. She found her confidence." 

The 'Jacks are finally scheduled to return home and play in Arcata for a CCAA series against Sonoma State next weekend for a pair of doubleheaders. 

"Excited to play on the home field is an understatement. I think the team deserves to be home for a weekend and have them catch up on school work and sleep in their own bed, We are just praying for some good weather."

Friday's games are scheduled for 1pm and 3pm, and Saturday's games are scheduled for 11am and 1pm.