March 7, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara softball team got their second win of the day and extended their record to 4-19 with a 3-1 victory over Idaho State Wednesday afternoon at Marsalli Park. Jackie Morales pitched seven innings giving up one unearned run and struck out six in the victory.
There was no big inning this time around, but the Broncos took the lead early on and never let Idaho State take it back. In the bottom of the first inning, Nori Kamada hammered her second home run of the season over the fence in centerfield to give the Broncos a 1-0 advantage.
In the third inning, Idaho State made a game of it and tied it up. After Whitney Nix singled off Morales, she stole second base. Alyc Kalamaha wasn't able to hang onto the ball and it went bouncing into center field, allowing Nix to advance to third. Three batters later, after a walk placed runners at the corners a double steal caught the Broncos, allowing Idaho State to tie things up.
But the tie didn't last long. Angela Kabanuck launched a double into the alley in left field and later scored after stealing third and advancing on the poor throw to third in which Heather Dixon was not able to block.
Britney Sanford, who was making her third start of the season, was the insurance run for the Broncos in the fifth. After leading off the inning with a walk, Sanford stole second and then advanced to third on a hit by Kabanuck, who was 2-for-3 for the second straight game. Nori Kamada collected her second RBI of the game by grounding out to the shortstop, allowing the speedy Sanford to score.
Santa Clara didn't give up there, as Meghan Chavez send a rope into right center field to lead off the sixth, but the Broncos were unable to get that extra run. It ended up not mattering, as Morales retired the Bengals in order in the top of the seventh to complete the sweep and improve the team's record to 4-19.
Santa Clara will ride Wednesday's victories into the NIST this weekend, hosted by San Jose State at Twin Creeks in Sunnyvale, Calif. Action kicks off at 1:00 p.m. against the University of Northern Iowa.