Kim's Incredible Effort Leads Softball to Split with San Diego on Saturday

Kim's Incredible Effort Leads Softball to Split with San Diego on Saturday

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the conference home-opener, Santa Clara softball earned a split against San Diego, taking game one 4-1 but falling the second game 4-2 in 10 innings.

Aubree Kim pitched all 17 innings for Santa Clara and was a strike away from picking up two wins.

"Aubree had such a gutsy performance today," Santa Clara head coach Lisa Dodd said. "She gave us everything she had and did a great job out there. After a big win in the first game, we hung around with a good San Diego team and had our chances to win it. I'm proud of the team today."

Game 1
Santa Clara (6-28, 1-3) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and starter Aubree Kim made it stand up while stranding 10 San Diego (23-18, 2-2) runners.

Kim (3-12) went the distance to pick up the win while allowing one run on five hits with eight walks and five strikeouts.

After the Toreros scored their lone run of the game in the sixth, the Broncos answered right back to get back up by three. Eleni Spirakis started the inning with a hit-by-pitch and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and stolen base. She came in to make it 4-1 on a single up the middle by Taylor Burns.

Spirakis also added a hit and an RBI on the day with Taylor Burns doing the same. The first three in the Broncos order all scored a run with Kelsie Barnard also knocking in a run.

In the first, four straight Santa Clara batters reached to start the inning and put the Broncos up 1-0. A fielder's choice and a sac fly later, Santa Clara had a 3-0 lead.

Hannah Boos (9-4) bounced back after the tough first inning but got the loss in the 6-inning complete game. She allowed four runs, two earned, on four hits with a walk and three strikeout.

San Diego got singles from five different players with Shelbi Evans collecting the RBI and Katie Vretzos scoring the run.

Game 2
Despite falling behind in the first, Santa Clara (6-29, 1-4) came back with a pair of runs and got within a strike of the sweep when San Diego (24-18, 3-2) forced extra innings and finally scored the winning runs in the 10th.

Hannah Gilliland led off the 10th with a single and moved into scoring position by swiping second. Hill followed with a chopper up the middle for an RBI. San Diego would add another run in the inning to take a 4-2 lead.

Lindsay Clare added two this and two RBIs as well with Madison Casiano picking up two hits, including a double.

Delaney Heller (10-7) picked up the win in 6 scoreless, one-hit innings out of the bullpen while striking out six and not allowing a walk.

With a runner on third and two down in the seventh and the Broncos on top 2-1, Kim got weak grounder to third but an error allowed the tying run to come across.

Kim (3-13) picked up the hard-luck loss while throwing all 10 innings. She allowed four runs, three earned, on seven hits with five walks and two strikeouts.

Santa Clara looked like it was going to waste a golden opportunity in the bottom of the fifth when the first two reached but didn't advance after two outs were recorded. Russell fell behind 0-2 but battled and dumped an RBI single to right to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.

The inning prior,  Spirakis led off with a triple down the right field line and Taylor Burns brought her home with a fielder's choice to second.

UP NEXT
Santa Clara concludes its series with San Diego tomorrow at noon.

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Tickets: Season or single-game tickets are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office in Leavey Center weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Gates to the Santa Clara Softball Stadium, as well as its ticket booth, are open one hour prior to the start of the game.

Parking: For weekday games, the Leavey Center lot, located on Accolti Way off El Camino Real, is free beginning one hour prior to first pitch. Any other parking facility on campus will be subject to normal daily rates or restrictions, including the main structure, located on Palm Drive. During the weekend, campus parking facilities are free (except for permit required locations). Click here for a campus map and parking restrictions.

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