Feb. 17, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - In the first game of the Stanford Invitational, the Santa Clara softball team tacked on seven runs in the seventh inning en rout to a tight 9-8 victory over Birmingham-Southern this morning. The Broncos amassed 11 hits in the win, with four players collecting two hits each. Jenny Brown led the SCU offense with a homerun and a triple, while Jessica Clee added two doubles in the winning cause.
Brown got the scoring spree started in the first inning, after she connected for a triple. Clee hit a sacrifice fly to score Brown and give Santa Clara the 1-0 lead. Birmingham-Southern countered in the third inning and took a 2-1 advantage after pitcher Jackie Morales gave up a two-run homerun to Nikki Rombough.
The Broncos evened things up again in the top of the sixth inning after Ashley Blier scored Clee home on a single to left field. Approaching the final inning of the game and the score tied up at 2-2, Santa Clara went on an offensive run that allowed seven runs to take a commanding 9-2 lead. After Kate Goethals and Meghan Chavez reached base earlier in the inning, Angela Kabanuk unleashed a double that scored both players. Brown then hit a monster homerun to score two more run for SCU and three more runs were added by the time Jillian Cassel grounded out to end the inning.
The Panthers were not deterred by their deficit, however, and mounted a furious rally to come within one run of tying up the ball game. Hurler Jerrica Castagno gave up six runs, five of them earned, but struck out Heather Fox to end the inning and preserve the victory for the Broncos.
Castagno (1-1) was credited with the win, while K. Villavienci (2-1) took the loss.
Santa Clara improves to 3-2 on the year and returns to action this afternoon with a meeting with Bay Area rival and host Stanford University.
