Feb. 11, 2007
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Santa Clara softball team dropped a close one Sunday morning over the Washington Huskies, a 3-1 loss at the Mustang Classic in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Junior Jackie Morales carried the Broncos into the sixth having struck out five and given up only two hits before the Huskies got one more big one to break the tie.
The Broncos were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader with Washington on Saturday, but due to rain, all scheduled games were cancelled, with a few rescheduled for Sunday.
It was a tough one at the plate for the Broncos, as the Huskies retired them in order in five of the seven innings. In the fourth, senior Angela Kabanuck gave the Broncos a great chance to tie the game with her two-out double. Then in the sixth, after freshman Alyc Kalamaha reached on an error and stole 2nd base, junior Jackie Morales knocked her in with a single to center, tying the game at 1-1.
But in the bottom of the sixth, with a one out and a runner on, the Huskies' Alicia Matthews tripled down the rightfield line, knocking in the runner and giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead. The next batter had a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Matthews from third and extending the Huskies lead to 3-1 with just one more set of at-bats for the Broncos.
Down to their final out, the Broncos brought power in off the bench. Freshman Jennifer Clarke pinch hit for junior Meghan Chavez, but went down on strikes to end the game.
The Broncos will face host Cal Poly at 3:30 p.m. in their final game at the Mustang Classic before returning to the Bay Area. The game was originally scheduled for 12:30 p.m. but was rescheduled to facilitate the playing of some of Saturday's games earlier on Sunday.