April 28, 2002
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Despite holding early leads in both games, the Santa Clara University softball team fell twice to San Diego, falling 5-4 in an eight-inning first game at the USD Softball Complex. The second game of the doubleheader also favored the Toreros, 4-2.
Santa Clara, now 21-34 on the season, remains one win shy of tying the most wins in a season for the program in the last eight years, attempting to match the 1995 Broncos, who went 22-38. Santa Clara concludes this current five-game road trip with a visit to Saint Mary's next Saturday, May 4, for the regular-season finale. That doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. The Broncos will then return to Moraga the following weekend for the WISL Championships. San Diego (13-35) closed out its home season with the wins.
In game one, the Toreros were down 4-0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, but tied the game with four two-out runs to send the contest to extra innings. Collecting key RBI singles in the inning were seniors Kristy Clarke and Stephanie Bisera, and junior Mary Ann Cane, whose pinch-hit single scored Cindy McGee from third with the tying run.
In the top of the eighth, Torero pitcher Anna Russell (7-14), who scattered 6 hits on the day in earning a complete-game victory, stranded a Bronco runner on third and got the final two outs on infield groundouts. In bottom of the 8th, Liz Wells was placed on second. USD's first batter, sophomore Ashley Miller, flared a single over first base that just landed inside the foul line and Wells raced around and just beat the relay throw with a headfirst dive.
For USD, Clarke and Lora McBay each collected two hits in 4 at-bats. For the Broncos, junior Coresta Salas went 2-for-4 with 1 run, and freshman Lacey Smale was 2-for-3 with 2 RBI. Freshman Jennifer Ponzo pitched 6.2 innings, giving up 9 hits and 4 runs, but fellow freshman Kelley Johnson (5-10) took the loss, giving up the hit to Miller and allowing USD's game-winning run.
In game two, the Toreros scored 3 runs in the bottom of the sixth to overcome a 2-1 deficit and earn the sweep. Santa Clara touched Allison Williams (6-14) for 2 runs in the first, but would not score again. The Toreros scored one run in the fourth when senior Stephanie Bisera's RBI single scored Jennifer Delpit from second base.
In the sixth, USD scored 3 runs on 4 hits. Cane came up with the big hit, a 2-run single to centerfield that scored Taryn Nagata and Francesca Ramos. Miller added an RBI single that scored Bisera for the third run. Williams gave up a two-out triple to Salas in the seventh, but got senior Sydney Wiginton to ground out to Clarke for the final out.
For the game, USD's Delpit and Bisera each collected two hits; the Santa Clara Broncos were paced once again by Salas and Smale, each with two hits.
