April 7, 2002
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University softball team split a double header with Portland State this afternoon at Marsalli Park. The Vikings took the first game in 10 innings by a 4-2 score while the Broncos rebounded with a 4-0 shutout in the second game.
Santa Clara, now 14-23 on the season, remains at home and continues a five-game homestand, hosting Pacific on Wednesday, April 10 at 5 p.m. Portland State moves to 11-20 on the year.
Portland State scattered three hits in the first seven innings of the opener, but the contest was still scoreless. The Broncos made it interesting though in the bottom of the seventh when they recorded their first hit, a two-out single down the right line by freshman first baseman Lacey Smale. Unable to convert, play moved to the eighth inning, where both teams went three and out.
Still scoreless in the top of the ninth, Portland State put two runs on the board. Viking left fielder Ashley Tennant walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by right fielder Monica Martell. After a second out, a Bronco error put third baseman Annie Peccia on first and allowed Tennant to score. A single down the left line by first baseman Nicole Ivie scored Peccia before Santa Clara could end the inning.
The Bronco offense responded. Senior outfielder Sydney Wiginton made her first start after missing the last 24 games since breaking her jaw in three places against Humboldt State on February 16 while attempting to steal second. She and junior outfielder Coresta Salas put up consecutive singles to put SCU into scoring position. Smale then added her second hit of the game, a two-out triple down the right field line that tied the ballgame.
With the international tiebreak rule in place for the 10th, a single by Viking shortstop Vanessa Applegate advanced Kari Mills to third. Applegate stole second. Both runners scored on a Bronco error with SCU unable to respond in the bottom half of the frame.
Portland State's Morgan Seibert won her seventh game of the season with an impressive game in the circle, notching 13 strikeouts, including seven of the first nine batters she faced. Bronco freshman Kelley Johnson recorded the loss.
With their bats warmed up, the Broncos scattered eight hits to take the second game by a 4-0 score. Salas, who reached base on balls and was sacrificed over to third, stole home for SCU's first score. A single by sophomore designated player Rachel Sherman brought home Smale, who also reached on a single.
Santa Clara struck again in the second inning, with a triple by Salas to bring home Wiginton. No runs were scored in the next two innings, but an impressive double play by junior short stop Tracie Hall ended a fifth-inning threat by the Vikings, who posted two singles in the frame. For added insurance, the Broncos added a run in the bottom half of the inning with another RBI by Sherman that scored senior third baseman Kristi Harrington.
Bronco Deanna Rodriguez picked up her eighth win of the season in the circle, while Viking Megan Herscher moved to 2-6 on the season.
