SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The CSU Bakersfield softball team opened the Santa Clara Round Robin with a split on Saturday. The Roadrunners suffered a shutout defeat at the hands of North Dakota before waking the bats up against Colgate to end the day.

“We played well in the second game,” said Crissy Buck-Ziegler, Head Coach of the 'Runners. “Aly Stockton did well in both games today. Amber gave us a great four and two-thirds innings and we love that Syd can shut the door. Hitting wise, we need to keep jumping on good pitches.”

Alyssa Stockton pitched a total of 5.1 scoreless innings in relief for the 'Runners on Saturday. The freshman scattered three hits while striking out four batters and bringing her season ERA down to 4.34. In their 3-0 loss to North Dakota, the 'Runners only managed four hits, but tallied nine against Colgate by capitalizing on the good pitches that Buck-Ziegler mentioned.

Game 1

After the first three innings, which featured just four scattered hits between the two teams, North Dakota finally broke through on offense. The top of the fourth inning started with a single and a walk before UND's designated played, Taylor Hansen, drove in a pair of runs with her double to center field. The play forced starter Lyndsay Klimenko out of the game as Stockton was called in to relieve. Hansen's pinch runner advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to give UND a 3-0 lead.

Chris Hipa's single in the bottom of the third inning was the last baserunner CSUB had in the game until the bottom of the seventh. Senior Sydney Raeber tried to get a last-inning rally going with a single to left off of UND's Kaylin VanDomelen, who had only allowed two hits to that point. Raeber was called out for leaving first base early just before Maddi Clark had a pinch hit single. The 'Runner rally was quelled and CSUB fell to North Dakota, 3-0.

Stockton pitched the best game of her young CSUB career against UND. The freshman from Delhi, Calif. came in for the final four innings and retired 12 of the 13 batters she faced while walking only one and striking out three.

Raeber was 2-for-3 from the plate on Saturday while tying sophomore Julea Cavazos for the team lead in doubles on the year (4). Clark and Hipa had the only other two hits in the game for the 'Runners, who fell to 4-14 with the loss. NDU's VanDomelen earned the complete-game, shutout victory as her squad improved to 8-18.

Game 2

CSUB got out to a quick start against Colgate when Cavazos singled in the top of the first inning. Her one-out hit turned into three bases thanks to a fielding error by the Raiders. Raeber came up and delivered a sacrifice fly to put the 'Runners ahead 1-0. After sophomore Nicole Curry doubled, CSUB had a chance to make it two runs, but Curry was thrown out at the plate on Briana Pontecorvo's single to center.

Adrianna Cardoza and Hipa combined for a pair of singles to put 'Runners on the corners in the top of the second. Sophomore Kaylynn Burt drove in her third run of the season with a one-out single, which also put two 'Runners in scoring position. Unlike in the first inning, CSUB capitalize on the opportunity and added two more runs on Cavazos' single to center, gaining a 4-0 advantage on the Raiders.

Hipa recorded her third single of the day in the top of the fourth and wound up on second thanks to a Colgate error. After a grounder moved Hipa to third, the freshman third baseman gave CSUB a 5-0 lead when she scored on a wild pitch.

Amber Mills dominated the Colgate batters as the senior right hander breezed through the Raiders. After a single and a walk in the first inning, Mills settled down and retired the next eleven batters in order while each failed to get the ball out of the infield. After a walk in the fifth, a wild pitch and a single put runners on the corners and forced the senior out of the game. Stockton came on to relieve again, but the Raiders scored a run before the freshman could get CSUB out of the inning.

Raeber came out to finish off the game in the bottom of the seventh. The native of Hanford, Calif. retired the Raiders in order to preserve the victory for Mills, who improved to 3-4 on the season. Mills did the bulk of the work, pitching 4.2 innings while allowing only four hits and one run, but Stockton and Raeber were also efficient as the CSUB pitching staff continues to find its way. Hipa and Cavazos both had two hits for the 'Runners, who had nine as a team, the second-most this season.

The Roadrunners (5-14) will be back in action on Sunday in another pair of games to close out the Santa Clara Round Robin. CSUB will face Dartmouth at 11 a.m. before taking on host Santa Clara at 1 p.m.

~GoRunners.com~