SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara softball got dominating pitching performances from their starters, Sage Hager and Regan Dias, shutting out Mount St. Mary's in both ends of the doubleheader on Tuesday at the SCU Softball Stadium. It was the third-straight shutout for the Bronco (10-9) who blanked Cal Poly, 1-0, on Sunday in the Silicon Valley Classic I Tournament Finale.
GAME 1: Santa Clara 1 - Mount St. Mary's 0
Sage Hager threw her second-straight shutout and Morgan Salmon's RBI grounder in the fourth inning was the difference in Santa Clara's 1-0 win.
Hager (5-0) allowed just three hits, walked one and struck out three batters over her seven innings of work to blank the Mountaineers (2-8).
The lone run of the game came in the fourth when Emma Bickford led off the inning with a double off Mount St. Mary's starter Amanda Berkley. Sammy Needham legged out a bunt single to put runners at the corners and Salmon brought home Bickford with a grounder to short.
Hager did not allow a runner to reach third base as Tori Bowles had two of the hits for the Mountaineers.
Berkley (1-3) was the losing pitcher for the Mountaineers, giving up one run on six hits over five innings.
Needham had two of those hits going 2-for-3.
GAME 2: Santa Clara 3 - Mount St. Mary's 0
Regan Dias and Mount St. Mary's starter Avery Neuhart were in a pitcher's duel heading to the bottom of the sixth inning in a scoreless game before Santa Clara's bats came alive, scoring three runs on four hits.
In the home half of the sixth, Dias led off the inning with a single and stole second. Sammy Needham tripled home Dias to get the Broncos on the board. Morgan Salmon delivered the second run of the game singling to center to plate Needham. Salmon swiped second to move into scoring position where Cameron McGinnis delivered an RBI single for the third run of the inning against Neuhart.
Mount St. Mary's threatened multiple times in the game, putting a runner in scoring position in five of the seventh innings. However, Dias (2-2) pitched out of it every time to earn a shutout, giving up four hits, a walk and striking out three over seven innings.
In the first, the Mountaineers (2-9) put a runner at third with one out but Dias retired the next two batters. They put runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the fourth and fifth innings but Dias escaped the jam. Needham and Salmon both went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run. Four Mountaineers collected a hit.
Neuhart (1-3) took the loss giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk over six innings.
NEXT UP
Santa Clara heads down to Santa Barbara to play in the three-day UC Santa Barbara South Coast Invitational starting Friday.
Make it 9 wins in their last 13 games and three in a row via shutout! The red-hot #Broncos sweep the DH vs @MSMU 1-0 and 3-0 to reach double-digits in the win column#CompeteInTheArena #SCUBroncos #StampedeTogether pic.twitter.com/s7YqZGOHCY
— Santa Clara Softball (@SCUSoftball) March 2, 2022
Connect with the Broncos on Social Media
Athletics: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Snapchat
Softball: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
