Pioneers Fall on Day One of Tournament of Champions

  • March 26, 2010

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TURLOCK, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay softball team scored a total of 10 runs in its two games on the opening day of the Mizuno Tournament of Champions, but fell in both contests on Friday in Turlock. The Pioneers (7-17) came back to send the first game against Montana State Billings into extra innings before falling to the Yellow Jackets, 6-5, and finished the night with an 11-5 loss to Central Washington.

After a pair of scoreless innings in game one, the Yellow Jackets got on the board in the third, scoring a run on an RBI single by Stevie Howard. MSU Billings added another in the top of the fourth before the Pioneers answered in the bottom half of the inning on a double from freshman designated player Sara Holdridge that brought pinch runner Chelsea McEachran in to score.

Leading 2-1, the Yellow Jackets took advantage of an RBI triple from Whitney Whittemore to gain a 3-1 advantage through four and a half innings. The Pioneers, however, answered back in the bottom of the fifth after sophomore Breezy Johnson led off with a single to center. Senior Sarah Davini and freshman Ashlee Coronado followed to put two on for freshman Emily Montanez, whose single to center brought both around to score to tie the game 3-3.

The Yellow Jackets looked set to secure the win in the top of the seventh, when a walk, a single and a hit batter loaded the bases for Rachel Eisenmann, who singled to right to drive in the go-ahead run. With the bases loaded and just one out, East Bay freshman starter Lauren Zweigle got back-to-back pop ups to get out of the jam and send the Pioneers into the bottom of the seventh trailing 4-3.

A one-out single from Coronado was followed an error on a throw after a pop up that moved the runner to third. With Coronado on third, senior catcher Rachelle Boone singled to left to drive in the run and tie the game 4-4 to send it into extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, junior Cat Shorn took over in the circle for Zweigle who allowed four runs and struck out three in seven innings of work. With international tie-break rules in effect, MSU Billings needed just one single to bring the runner who is automatically placed on second around to score and take a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the eighth.

East Bay got a run of their own after junior Nikki Freiberg moved the runner on second over to third with a sacrifice bunt and a single off the pitcher's glove to drive in a run and tie the game again. Tied 5-5, MSU Billings scored the eventual winner in the top of the ninth before shutting down the Pioneers in the bottom half of the inning to capture the win.

Seven players collected at least one hit for East Bay in game one, including a 2-for-5 performance by Coronado, who also scored twice. Meanwhile, Montanez went 1-for-5 and drove in a pair.

After Central Washington notched a run to start game two, the Pioneers took their first lead of the day in the bottom half of the inning. With one out, Coronado walked, followed by a Montanez single to put two on for Boone, who singled to tie the game. Holdridge followed with a three-run blast to left to give East Bay a 4-1 lead.

Two scoreless innings sent the two squads into the fourth with CSUEB leading 4-1. The Wildcats used five hits and two errors to score five runs and take a 6-4 lead they would never relinquish. Despite the Pioneers' scoring another run in the bottom of the fourth to make it 6-5, CWU continued to add to its lead, scoring twice in the fifth and adding another three in the seventh to seal the win.

The Pioneers were led by Holdridge's 1-for-3 performance at the plate with one run and three RBI. Boone also went 1-for-3, scoring once and driving in one. Schorn took her second loss of the day, tossing four innings and allowing five earned runs, while striking out four.

Cal State East Bay continues pool play at the Tournament of Champions tomorrow. The Pioneers will meet No. 3 Hawai'i Pacific at 9:15 a.m. before facing St. Martin's at 11:15 a.m. and closing out the day with Northwest Nazarene at 4:15 p.m. Results and tournament information is available .