ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Dominican softball dropped a pair of one-run decisions 1-0 and 2-1 Friday afternoon to Sonoma State at Seawolf Softball Field.
Shelby Keltner led the way from the circle striking out eight in seven innings of work while
Jayla Cadena and
Taylor Rodriguez combined for the other 5.1 innings of work allowing no earned runs between the pair of freshman pitchers. Keltner added the lone hit of the first game while
Caitlyn Perales went 1-for-3 with a run in game two.
Game one
Keltner and Bailee Reed were locked in a pitcher's duel in the first game as neither side had much to work with trying to gain runs. After Keltner struck out four of the first seven batters a walk put the first Seawolf on base with one out. SSU followed up with a pair of bunt singles to load the bases, but a fly out to shallow center and then a fly out to right field left the runners stranded and the game scoreless heading to the fourth.
Keltner then became the first Penguin to reach base safely in the top of the fifth as she singled to shallow right field but Reed quickly retired the next two batters to end the inning. The Seawolves finally broke through as Reagan Hunt singled on an infield hit towards second and made it to second on a throwing error. After Keltner sat down the next two batters, Rylee Nishimoto sent a soft pop up in between the shortstop, left and center fielders with two outs to score a run on a stand up double to take the 1-0 lead.
Dominican had one last chance to tie in the top of the seventh as
Lauren Lapinid reached safely on an error by the second baseman and
Annabelle Burke was hit by a pitch to put two on with one out. Reed got a fly out to center on the next at bat, but a wild pitch put both runners in scoring position. Reed got the groundout to third on the next pitch to escape the jam and secure the win.
Game two
The Penguins had a bit more going for it on offense in the second game as Burke had a single in the first inning, but was left stranded at first. Perales then singled to left to lead off the top of the second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout. After
Alexis Abalos drew a walk she quickly made a move to steal second and a throw by the catcher bounced into the plate off the shortstops glove allowing Perales to come home from third for the 1-0 lead.
Giana Hays singled for SSU in the bottom of the frame and stole second to move into scoring position with no outs. Rodriguez got the next batter swinging but a passed ball allowed the runner to reach first and Hays moved to third. The Seawolves then scored on the squeeze play to tie the game 1-1.
Lauren Mirtoni looked to give the Seawolves the lead as she tripled down the right-field line with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Cadena got the next batter swinging before a flyout to left ended the frame. Each team left a single base runner stranded over the next four frames until Cassidy Romano singled to center and stole second to leadoff the bottom of the seventh. A sacrifice bunt moved Romano 60 feet from the victory and Anna Zoia-Buescher laid down a squeeze bunt with the throw going home a split second late to give SSU the walkoff win.
Dominican will have a week off as it prepares for its next game Wednesday, February 22 against Cal State East Bay in a doubleheader at Pioneer Softball Field beginning at noon.
