TURLOCK, CALIF. – The Cal State Bakersfield softball team won twice to advance to the Silver Bracket Championship game only to fall in the finale Sunday afternoon at the 2007 Tournament of Champions Presented By Mizzuno at Pedretti Park in Turlock.
Bakersfield (22-17-1) received two pitching gems to defeat Notre Dame de Namur 8-0 in the quarterfinals and UC San Diego 2-1 in the semifinals. But the good pitching met with hard luck in the championship game as Western Oregon scored twice late to pull out a 2-1 upset.
Freshman pitchers Katie Chavez and Shawna Truan combined on a two-hit shutout of Notre Dame in Sunday's opener. The 'Runner offense, meanwhile, exploded for eight runs, including a five spot in the fourth inning to put the game on ice. Carrie Hilvers' RBI double in the first inning provide all the support Chavez would need as she allowed just two hits in four innings before Truan pitched a perfect fifth to end the game via the eight-run mercy rule.
Senior pitcher Kristyn Daniels was nearly as sharp against regional contender UC San Diego in the semifinals. She pitched six innings of two-hit, shutout ball before nearly falling victim to a string of bad luck in the seventh.
Hilvers staked Daniels to a 1-0 lead by leading off the fourth inning with a triple ahead of all-tournament selection Hilary Taylor's perfect squeeze bunt. The 'Runners manufactured an insurance run in the sixth when Pikake Nutter-Gaudet laced a two-out single through the left side, stole second, then scored on a Danielle Lyman base hit.
Daniels retired the first two batters in the seventh before a slow roller through the right side of the infield nearly opened the floodgates for UCSD. An infield single and an error loaded the bases before Danielle Lukk blooped a single over third base.
Lukk's hit scored Sara Robinson to cut the deficit in half. When Brittani Carino lofted a soft fly ball into shallow left center, the Tritons seemed certain to take the lead. But centerfielder Bethany Snow came out of nowhere to make a circus catch and preserve the 'Runner victory.
A sweep appeared to be in order for Bakersfield when it jumped to a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning of the championship game versus Western Oregon thanks to Hilvers' second RBI double of the afternoon. But the Wolves scratched back to tie the game thanks to four singles in the fourth inning.
Aside from the hiccough in the fourth, the pitching combo of Truan and Chavez was in control until the softball gods frowned in the sixth inning. With two outs and runners on first and second in the sixth, Chavez coaxed Amanda Fleer to pop up behind second base. But miscommunication allowed the ball to drop untouched as the winning run scored.
Bakersfield finished the seventh annual Tournament of Champions with a 5-3 record. The tournament also brought to a close a 34-day road trip for the 'Runner softball team, which returns home to host Cal State Monterey Bay Friday, April 6.
