CHICO, Calif. – The No. 25 Cal State San Marcos softball team (27-3, 18-2 CCAA) handed No. 11 Chico State (22-8, 14-6 CCAA) its first home CCAA series sweep since 2009 as the Cougars closed out the four-games series with a pair of wins, 5-2 and 17-7 (6 inn.), on Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Softball Field.
GAME 1: CSUSM 5 – Chico State 2
TOP PERFORMERS
Paige Donnelly – 2-for-4 | 1 2B
Bianca Gutierrez – 1-for-4 | 1 RBI
Kayla Mack – 1-for-1 | 1 HR
Sammie Olivio – 1-for-2 | 1 RBI | 1 BB
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Wildcats got scored first in the first frame on a bases-loaded groundout by Alani Nguyen.
The Cougars took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth on Gutierrez’s chopped single up the middle that drove in two runs.
In the sixth inning, Mack hit a leadoff home run to right field, and Steiner’s contact was ruled an error, which drove in two more runs to give CSUSM a 5-1 lead.
With the bases loaded and one out on the board in the bottom of the sixth, Coyle took the ball in the circle. Chico scored one run on a CSUSM error after an infield popup before Coyle got a strikeout with the last out.
Coyle collected her NCAA Division II-leading fifth save of the season after forcing a pop up and two strike outs in the final inning.
QUICK HITS
Cougar starter Jayline Sloss (10-1) recorded the win after limiting Chico to just two runs (one earned) on two hits and walking four in 5.1 innings. She struck out two Wildcats in the contest.
Chico State’s starter Mari Takeda Bajan took the loss after tossing a complete game and giving up five runs (one earned) on seven hits, one walk and one wild pitch. She collected four strikeouts.
Gutierrez extended her CSUSM-leading hit streak to 10 games with her single in the top of the fifth that gave the Cougars a 2-1 lead.
GAME 2: CSUSM 17 – Chico State 7 (6)
TOP PERFORMERS
Paige Donnelly – 4-for-5 | 2 RBIs | 1 R | 2 2B |
Aneesa Arredondo – 3-for-4 | 3 RBIs | 2 R | 1 2B
Sammie Olivio – 2-for-3 | 3 R | 1 RBI | 1 SB
Bianca Gutierrez – 2-for-5 | 2 RBIs | 2 R
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chico State knocked out back-to-back home runs in the first inning with Nina Revoir crushing a three-run homer and Amanda Metzger following with a solo home run to take a 4-0 lead.
The Wildcats added another run in the second on an RBI groundout by Grace Stover to make it 5-0.
Chico State tacked on one more run in the third on an RBI double by Rachael Bles down the left line.
CSUSM came alive in the fourth with a one-out rally, scoring 13 runs on nine hits (four doubles) and two errors to take a 13-6 lead. The Cougars were one batter shy of batting around the order twice.
The Cougars added four more runs in the top of the sixth with Sammie Olivio and Donnelly each recording RBI doubles, Delaney Prater hitting into a bases-loaded error and Lombardi closing out the inning on an RBI double to center.
The Wildcats were able to push one more run across in the sixth on a Reilani Peleti RBI single before Ponce forced a fly out to end the game due to the mercy rule.
With her two singles in the fourth inning, Gutierrez lengthened her CSUSM-best hitting streak to 10 games.
QUICK HITS
The Cougars sit on top of the CCAA standings with a four-game lead over Chico State and six-game lead over third-place Cal State Dominguez Hills.
CSUSM reliever Jamie Ponce (2-0) entered in the second inning, racking up four strikeouts and only allowing two runs on four hits, three wild pitches and two walks.
Wildcat starter Katelyn Oldwin took the loss after 3.2 innings of work, allowing 11 runs (five earned) on nine hits and four walks.
The last time the Wildcats were swept at home was March 27-28, 2009, against UCSD.
Chico State hasn’t lost a four-game CCAA series since April 12-13, 2013, at CSUSB.
CSUSM has tallied back-to-back sweeps after taking four against Cal State East Bay last weekend.
Out of CSUSM’s 32 runs in this series, only 11 were ruled earn runs due to Chico State’s 13 errors. The Wildcats entered the series with 19 errors on the season.
This marks the first time CSUSM has scored 13 runs in a single inning since moving to NCAA Division II and second time in program history. The Cougars tallied 13 runs against La Sierra in the second inning en route to a 19-0 victory on April 15, 2012.
THOUGHTS FROM HEAD COACH STEF EWING
“This was a great weekend for this team and our program. Our pitchers did an outstanding job and offensively, we were relentless. I am really proud of this team and how they have worked. We are ready for spring break and San Francisco State next weekend at home. We got to keep the momentum going.”
UP NEXT
The No. 25 Cougars will return home next week to host San Francisco State in a four-game series beginning on Friday, March 25 at 1 p.m.
