SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the final nonconference game of the season, Santa Clara softball fell to Cal 6-2 on Wednesday afternoon.
Bronco starter Micaela Vierra (4-14) struggled with her command in first inning and walked four. The free passes led to an early 2-0 lead for the Bears (20-15-1) that they would never give back.
Vierra ended up allowing five runs, three earned, on six hits with five walks and two strikeouts in 4-plus innings while getting the loss.
Santa Clara (7-32) got RBIs from Amanda Delfino and Casandra Padilla. Delfino picked up three hits as well.
"Outside of the first inning I thought our pitching was pretty good," said Santa Clara head coach Lisa Mize. "Cal is a good team so for us to get eight hits off of them is a good sign. We need to clean up the three errors but other than that we were in the game despite being a little tired from finishing up playing five games in four days."
Kimberly Goulart worked a 13-pitch walk with one out in the bottom of the third to help get Santa Clara on the board. Delfino followed with a bunt single and Padilla brought in the run with a single to left to make it a 2-1 game.
The Broncos would never get closer as Cal responded with three runs in the next two innings before adding an insurance run in the seventh.
Kristin Cullen (3-2) went 4 1/3 innings to pick up the win for the Bears. She allowed two runs on five hits with six strikeouts and a walk.
Annie Aldrete was 2-3 with a double, a walk, and a run scored while Kobie Pettis scored a pair of runs and had an RBI.
Santa Clara is back in action Saturday, April 23 at LMU at noon and 2 p.m.
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