TURLOCK, Calif. – Dominican softball fell in both games of its opening day at the Stan State Invitational opening with a 6-2 loss to Stanislaus State before a 5-1 loss to No. 5 Cal State East Bay at Warrior Softball Field.
Leslie Ruiz led the Penguins (3-4) in the first game going 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored.
Kate Tobola had a hit in each game with a single in the second game delivering the first RBI against Marissa Quintero in two weeks.
Game 1
Dominican rebounded after giving up a solo shot in the second inning with a solid third. Ruiz singled to center to lead off and advanced all the way to third as the outfielder misplayed the grounder and let it get all the way to the wall.
Marina Medina brought her home with a single to left with
Karlyne Manuel entering to pinch run at first. Manuel moved to second on a sacrifice and Tobola laced a ball through the third-baseman's legs to put runners on the corners. After Tobola stole second on the first pitch, Manuel goaded a throw to third and stole home two pitches later to take the 2-1 lead.
The Penguins looked to be in control as they kept the Warriors out of scoring range over the next two innings but the sixth inning proved to be Dominican's downfall. Ava Montesdeoca singled back to the circle and then stole second going to third on a throwing error on the attempt. After a walk and a steal put two runners in scoring position,
Taylor Rodriguez bought herself some relief as she scooped a squeeze attempt and threw home for the first out of the inning. A subsequent walk loaded the bases and Marley Hogue singled to right to tie the game at 2-2. Another walk brought in the go ahead run and then a defensive miscue led to no one covering first and another run coming home for the 4-2 lead. Stanislaus State added two insurance runs for good measure to put the game out of reach of Dominican.
Game 2
The Penguins gave the ranked Pioneers all they could handle for six innings of a pitching duel in the night cap. CSUEB took the early lead thanks to back-to-back doubles Jasmyn Morales and Cynthia Carillo in the top of the second inning, but Carillo was stuck at second with Dominican sitting down the next three in order. Isabel Mercado singled to lead off the top of the fifth and came home when Jeslyn Cuellar doubled to right with two outs.
Dominican ended Quintero's 30 inning scoreless pitching streak as Tobola singled to right center to bring home Manuel from second and cut the deficit to 2-1. A pair of fielding errors in the bottom of the sixth put runners on the corners for the Penguins with two outs but Cuellar was able to snag a line drive at short to keep the Pioneers in the lead heading into the final inning.
The Pioneers pulled away in the top of the seventh as Rylee Gomez doubled to left field to bring home two runs and Morales dropped a single into right to extend the lead to 5-1.
Dominican will have a rematch with the Pioneers to begin its second day of action in Turlock with first pitch slated for 2 p.m. PST before taking on Saint Martin's to finish the day at 7 p.m. at Warrior Softball Field.
