Feb. 25, 2006
Seattle, Calif. - The Santa Clara softball team dropped its opening games today at the Husky Fever Classic, falling first to Utah Valley State College 4-1 and then losing a close 4-3 decision to host and No. 14 Washington. Shannon Linerud led the effort of the Broncos with four hits and two RBI and Jessica Clee slammed her second home run of the year in a 2-6 effort at the plate.
In the first game against Utah Valley State, pitcher Liz Courter gave up two runs in the bottom of the second to automatically put Santa Clara in a deficit. An error by secondbaseman Jackie Morales and shortstop Shannon Linerud allowed two more runs in the fourth inning to make it 4-0 in favor of the Wolverines. The Broncos attempted a comeback in the top of the fifth, as Morales started things off with a single to left field. After Brittany Pucci pinched ran for Morales, she advanced to second after Nori Kamada singled to center field. Pucci was then able to put Santa Clara on the scoreboard after she scored on an error that allowed Jenny Brown to reach first base and Nori Kamada second. Unfortunately, hurler Jackie Roberts was able to limit the Bronco attack to pick up her fourth win of the season. Courter fell to 0-1 in 2006, despite striking out six batters.
In the afternoon match against No. 14 Washington, the Huskies used a potent second inning to secure its 10th victory of the season. Pitcher Jerrica Castagno gave up four runs on four hits in the bottom of the second to give the host team the lead that they would never relinquish. Santa Clara attempted to rally in the third inning, as Linerud banged out a triple to center field with two outs left that scored both Brown and Clee, who were at second and first base, respectively. The next batter, Ashley Blier, flied out to centerfield to end the inning, leaving one on base.
The Broncos threatened again in the fifth inning, as Clee homered to center field to cut Washington's lead to just one at 4-3. However, pitcher Danielle Lawrie took care of business the rest of the way to seal her sixth win of the season. Castagno took the loss and is now 2-3 in 2006.
Santa Clara drops its record to 4-7 on the year and returns to action tomorrow, as it will face Utah Valley State at 9 a.m. and Washington at 1:30 p.m.
