Softball Splits With UC Riverside

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? The CSUB softball team's longest active win streak against a single opponent grew by one game then ended Wednesday afternoon as the Roadrunners split a doubleheader with UC Riverside, winning 2-1 and falling 3-2 at the Roadrunner Softball Complex.

CSUB (17-15 overall) raised its winning streak vs. UCR (11-18) to 19 games dating back to 1997 with the game one win. But light-hitting Brooke Hebenton fisted a two-out, RBI single just over third base in the sixth inning to drive home what proved to be the winning run.

CSUB continued to struggle from the plate as it now has scored two or fewer runs in five of its last seven games. The Roadrunner bats figured to get healthy against a UCR pitching staff that began the day allowing more than five runs per game, but Highlander starters Stephanie Marshall and Amy Lwin kept them mostly in check.

Roadrunner sophomore Brittany Johnson scattered six hits and allowed just one run in picking up her eighth win of the season in the opener. Catcher Jaimey Kleinsmith made her a winner when her two-out single in the bottom of the fifth drove home Jill McClelland from third.

Johnson played a hero's role at the plate in game two, driving a two-out single up the middle in the fourth inning to plate two runs and tie the game at 2-2. But Hebenton, who began her sixth-inning at bat hitting just .158, managed to fight off a tough pitch from Shawna Truan to bring home pinch runner Dawn Brodersen with what proved to be the decisive run.

CSUB had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh when Kasie Muro led off with a walk to bring Kelli Bailey to the plate. But Bailey, who began the day hitting .394, grounded into a double play to essentially end the threat.

Danielle Lyman and Jaimey Kleinsmith both went 3-for-5 in the doubleheader to lead the CSUB offense. Freshman first baseman Jessica Vasser went 3-for-6, including a two-run homer in the first inning of the nightcap, to lead UCR.

CSUB heads to Northern California for a three-game set against future Pacific Coast Softball Conference rival Saint Mary's College Saturday afternoon in Moraga. The Roadrunners return home to host another future PCSC foe, Loyola Marymount, Mar. 31.