BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – In dramatic, game-winning fashion, junior shortstop Shay Fryer (San Diego, Calif., University HS) hit a walkoff RBI single to score redshirt senior center fielder Laura King (Camarillo, Calif., UNLV) in the bottom of the seventh inning to complete a come-from-behind rally to give the CSU Bakersfield softball team a 5-4 victory over Fresno State in non-conference action on Wednesday at Roadrunner Softball Complex.
Fryer, the current Pacific Coast Softball Conference Player of the Week after she went 9-for-12 with six RBIs, four runs scored, a homer and a double in CSUB's weekend 3-1 PCSC series win against Santa Clara, continued to swing a hot bat against the Bulldogs (22-18), going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. King went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI triple to right field to score junior left fielder Karissa Veiga (Hemet, Calif., Hemet HS) to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh.
The victory served as payback over Fresno State, who defeated CSUB 3-2 on Feb. 20 in Fresno, Calif., with a walkoff single by Brooke Ortiz in the bottom of the seventh inning. The win was the first-ever for CSUB over Fresno State in five attempts. The two teams played twice in 1986, once in 2008 and then twice this season.
“We battled and that was a great game,” said CSUB head coach Crissy Buck. “I think it's a great Valley tradition now and we have two great teams in the Valley. I am really excited about that.”
As for Fryer, Buck is extremely impressed with her play, especially over the last week.
“I am so proud of her. I think she has really stepped in to her own,” Buck said. “She is acting like a junior and is calm in every at bat. We call her the 'Honey Bagder.' That's who she is.”
CSUB (11-23) got on the scoreboard first when King and sophomore third baseman Madison Bundy (Anacortes, Wash., Oregon State) both singled and freshman starting pitcher Amber Mills (Fresno, Calif., Clovis West HS) plated King with an RBI single. The 'Runners built on their lead in the third inning when Veiga walked, King singled and Fryer hit an RBI single down the left field line to score Veiga and make it 2-0 CSUB.
The Bulldogs rallied back in the top of the fourth to tie the game with help from a homer off the bat of Stesha Brazil. CSUB reclaimed the lead in the bottom of the fifth when King led off the inning with a single and Fryer once again came up with a clutch hit – a double to center field to bring King home and put CSUB up 3-2.
Fresno State wasn't ready to throw in the towel yet however as Michelle Solomon hit a two-run homer to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game at 4-3.
In a game that looked very similar to the first matchup in Fresno, it was the 'Runners who benefited from being the home team with the final at bat. Veiga led off with a single up the middle and then King crushed a triple to right field to bring her home. Then Fryer, cheered on by teammates wearing rally caps, came up big again with a single up the middle to bring King home easily. King was then swarmed by her teammates celebrating the dramatic finish.
Sophomore pitcher Kelsie Monroe (Los Banos, Calif., Delta College) threw three solid innings of relief to pick up her ninth win of the season. She gave up two earned runs on three hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
CSUB will now hit the road and return to conference play to take on San Diego (17-19, 2-6 PCSC) in a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Entering the weekend, the Roadrunners (6-6 PCSC) are in fourth place in the PCSC standings. San Diego is sitting in the cellar in seventh place. Action will begin at noon both days.
“We are in the running for a conference championship and they are starting to smell it,” Buck said of her squad. “We just have to keep moving forward as a team. We started the season with a really tough schedule and it is starting to pay off.”
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