Feb. 14, 2004
STANFORD, Calif. - Sophomore infielder Shannon Linerud hit a high hopper up the middle in the bottom of the ninth to bring home the game-winning run as the Santa Clara University softball team defeated Missouri 4-3 at the Stanford Invitational today at the Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. The Broncos (4-10) shut out Pacific 2-0 in their second game of the day and advance to play host Stanford on Sunday for the tournament's championship.
Against Missouri, the Broncos scored two runs in the first. Jenny Brown led off reaching base on balls, and then advanced to second on Vanessa Werner's bunt single. A wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. Kelley Johnson notched two RBIs with her base hit.
The Tigers added two runs during regulation, making the contest 2-2 after seven innings. Both teams scored one run in the eighth. Jessica Clee started on second base in the ninth, according to international tiebreak rules, and moved to third on Rachel Sherman's sacrifice. Linerud brought Clee home for the game-winner with her single.
The Broncos scored both runs against Pacific in the top of the sixth. Keri Reisinger reached base on an error, and advanced to second on a bunt from Brown. Werner's base hit loaded the bases. Freshman Angela Kabanuck's double to left center brought two runners home.
Senior Jaime Forman-Lau pitched complete games to earn victories in both contests.