UC Davis Tournament Central | Sacramento State Tournament Central
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – A big day from the offense and some clutch hitting gave Santa Clara softball a sweep on the second day of the Capital Classic Saturday on the Sacramento State campus. The Broncos (7-14) topped Rider (1-13) 12-3 in five innings and won in walk-off fashion 4-3 against Sacramento State (13-12).
"I was happy to see the offense come to life in the first game and that we were able to win a close on in the second," Santa Clara head coach Lisa Dodd said. "It should that we can get it done in different ways. We were cool under pressure and had productive at-bats all day with people stepping up in their roles."
Game 1
Santa Clara's offense came to life, posting three three-run innings and scoring in all five frames during the game.
Hannah Russell got the day going with a one-out three-run home run to left in the first that got the runs started.
The second saw more of the same with Eleni Spirakis and Sammy Needham adding RBI doubles and Russell and Alexandria Hale doing the same in the fourth.
The Broncos capped their impressive showing with two runs in the fifth for their best offensive output of the season.
Russell finished the game with four RBIs and a pair of runs scored with Spirakis collecting three hits, an RBI, and scoring four runs. Regan Dias had two hits, including a triple, to go with two RBIs and two runs scored and five others registered an RBI.
Dias (5-3) picked up the win in the 4-inning start, allowing two runs, one earned, on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
The Broncs managed single runs in the first, third, and fifth innings, led by two hits and two RBIs from Rachael Zeides.
Elyse Cuttic (0-5) took the loss in 4 1/3 innings. She allowed nine runs, seven earned, on nine hits with four walks and a strikeout.
Game 2
With the score tied at 3-3, Emma Bickford led off the frame with a double to right and moved to third with no outs on a wild pitch but got thrown out at the plate with one down to seemingly end the Santa Clara threar. Spirakis and Dias, however, both followed with two out walks and Sammy Needham came through with an RBI single to right to complete the day's sweep.
Needham finished with a pair of hits and three RBIs while Spirakis also collected an RBI and Emma Bickford had two hits with two runs scored.
Dias was solid in the start, going 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs but go a no-decision. Lauren Schiek (1-0) went the final 1 1/3 innings to get the win.
A one out triple by Nene Alas with her team trailing, set up the game-tying run in the top of the seventh. Sydney Rasmussen followed with a sac fly to even the score at 3-3.
Rasmussen picked up a pair of RBIs with Krystal Aubert, Kayla Brookshire, and Sydnee Strong all adding two hits apiece.
Savanna Corr (10-7) took the loss in 2/3 of an inning out of the bullpen, allowing a run on a hit and two walks. Hornets starter Danielle Sperry lasted four innings and gave up a pair of unearned runs on three hits.
Both teams used two out doubles in the third to get on the board. Rasmussen drove in Kayla Grubert to make it 1-0 in the top of the frame but Needham answered in the bottom with a two-run double of her own, scoring Morgan Modesto and Emma Bickford.
UP NEXT
The Broncos play Marist tomorrow at 12:30 p.m.
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