FRESNO, Calif. - Santa Clara softball jumped out to early leads in both ends of the doubleheader against Fresno State and settled for a split on Wednesday at Margie Wright Diamond. In game one, the Broncos had a six run lead that they nearly gave up, before winning it 12-10 in extra inning. In the second game, SCU took an early 3-0 before the Bulldogs came back to take the lead in the sixth inning in Fresno State's 5-4 victory.
Game 1: Santa Clara 12 – Fresno State 10 (eight innings)
Santa Clara outlasted Fresno State 12-10 in eight innings that saw plenty of offensive firepower with the two teams combining for 28 hits.
The Broncos (16-13) squandered a six-run lead late in the game but put up two runs in the extra frame with the international tiebreaker rule in effect.
The game was tied at 10-all to start the eighth and Sammy Needham was placed on second base under the rule. Shelbi Denman threw a wild pitch followed by a walk to Lauren LaHood to put the runners at the corners. Morgan Salmon, who had three hits and four RBIs, hit a fly ball to shallow left that kept Needham at bay but allowed LaHood to move to second, putting two runners in scoring position.
Denman then uncorked another wild pitch that plated Needham for the go-ahead run and Regan Dias added an insurance run with an RBI sacrifice fly to make it 12-10.
Santa Clara had 12 hits as Ashley Trierweiler and Salmon combined to go 8-for-9 with four runs and six RBIs. Trierweiler was a home run away from a cycle going 5-for-5.
Fresno State (11-19) pounded out 16 hits, half of them going for extra bases, to claw back from a six-run deficit.
Trailing 10-4 in the bottom of the sixth, the Bulldogs sent nine batters to the plate. Kennedy Bunker, Bella Rocco and Juliana Wilson hit RBI doubles against Hazyl Gray. Hannah Edwards came in relief and gave up an RBI single to Alesia Denby that got Fresno State to within a run at 10-9.
In the home half of the seventh, Bunker hit another double, her third of the game, and came home on Keahilele Mattson's base knock to knot the game up at 10-all. The Bulldogs nearly completed the comeback win when they loaded the bases with two outs. However, Trierweiler's sliding catch of Denby's fly ball sent the game to extras.
In the bottom of the eighth, Edwards hunkered down and retired three-straight to earn the win. She improved to 5-3 on the year after giving up a run on four hits and a walk over 2 2/3 innings.
Denman (5-3) was the losing pitcher giving up a pair of runs, one earned, over 1 2/3 innings. .
Juliana Wilson and Bunker each drove in three runs. Bunker had a team-high four hits while Mattson went 3-for-5.
Game 2: Fresno State 5 – Santa Clara 4
Kennedy Bunker drove in two runs including the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth to lift Fresno State to a 5-4 win in the backend game of the doubleheader.
In that frame, Bunker hit an RBI sacrifice fly after back-to-back singles by Emma Martinez and Juliana Wilson off Broncos reliever Regan Dias.
Santa Clara (16-14) once again got off to a hot start but could not hang on this time.
Dias got the scoring going for the Broncos, doubling home Lauren LaHood who singled to start the second inning.
In the next frame, Ashley Trierweiler drew a leadoff walk. It was the seventh-straight plate appearance where she safely reached base, having led the game off with a single after a 5-for-5 performance in the first game. Trierweiler moved to third on a wild pitch and a passed ball before coming home on Emma Bickford's sacrifice fly.
Abigail Charpentier added an RBI single later in the inning to give Santa Clara a 3-0 advantage.
Fresno State (12-19) mounted its comeback starting in the third on Bunker's RBI single. In the fourth, Keahilele Mattson doubled home two runs to even the game at 3-all.
Each team was gifted a run in the bottom of the fifth and the top of the sixth when the both second basemen botched grounders to allow a run to score in the two frames.
Taylor Gilmore (5-4) picked up the win for the Bulldogs allowing just that one unearned run over the final 4 1/3 innings holding the potent Bronco lineup to just one hit.
SCU had seven hits in the first three innings against starter Shelbi Denman.
LaHood and Charpentier each had two hits in the game.
Dias (1-4) was saddled with the loss as she was responsible for giving up the last two runs in her 2 1/3 innings of work.
NEXT UP
Santa Clara hosts Nevada in a doubleheader on April 5.
