BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – A ninth-inning illegal pitch and a down-to-the-final-out, two-RBI, walk-off single by senior Sydney Raeber helped the CSU Bakersfield softball team earn its first-ever Western Athletic Conference series sweep. The Roadrunners defeated the Seattle U Redhawks twice, by identical scores of 3-2, at the Roadrunner Softball Complex on Saturday.

“We just believed,” said Crissy Buck-Ziegler, Head Coach of the 'Runners. “That's been a big thing for us all year long, truly believing in our process and believing that we have to do it one pitch at a time. That's what we started to do there at the end of the game. We never played to the scoreboard. We just kept doing what we had to do and that showed up with Alex [Simmons] and Sydney there at the end.”

Buck-Ziegler went on to praise her senior pitcher and outfielder, who has been a leader for the 'Runners all season: “Sydney has been prepared all year. She has been in opportunities to score that run and get that big hit. She was locked in all weekend long and I'm really proud of her execution.”

Game 1

In the bottom of the first, sophomore Julea Cavazos led the inning off with a single. An error allowed CSUB's right fielder to advance to third before she noticed that Seattle U was not covering home. Cavazos broke for the plate and beat the defense back to the bag to give CSUB a 1-0 lead. In the top of the second, the 'Runners returned the favor as a throwing error allowed a Redhawk to come around and tie the game at 1-1.

Freshman Alyssa Stockton came on to relieve CSUB's starter, Lyndsay Klimenko, with one on and one out in the top of the third. Stockton walked a batter, but kept the Redhawk's off the scoreboard. With one out in the top of the fourth, Megan Ottino hit a solo home run to left field. The right fielder's second homer of the year put Seattle U ahead 2-1.

With 'Runners on first and second, Cavazos hit a single to right field. Sophomore Kaylynn Burt, who was hit by a pitch, scored from second on the single to tie the game up at two runs apiece in the bottom of the fifth. The game remained quiet for next few innings as the two teams headed to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth, Isabella Geronimo led off with a double down the right field line for Seattle U. Stockton was pulled from the game as closer Raeber moved from center field to the circle. Bakersfield's senior retired three straight Redhawks including a swinging strikeout for the third out of the inning.

Raeber proceeded to lead off the bottom of the eighth with a single and freshman Chris Hipa moved her to second with a sacrifice bunt. An infield single by senior Briana Pontecorvo put a second 'Runner on, but Raeber remained at second. CSUB was unable to move the 'Runners around as the score remained tied through eight innings.

With a runner on first in the top of the ninth inning, Seattle U hit a ball to deep right center field. Cavazos gathered the ball, threw to Adrianna Cardoza at second, who fired home to get the lead runner out, end the top half of the inning, and keep the game tied.

In the bottom of the ninth, Kaylynn Burt singled to lead off and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cardoza. The Redhawks chose to intentionally walk Cavazos, who was 4-for-4 at that point in the game.

Another sacrifice bunt, this time by senior Alex Simmons, put the winning run 60 feet away from home. Seattle U elected to intentionally walk the next 'Runner, but the umpire called an illegal pitch, which advanced Burt home for the winning run. The illegal pitch was called when the Redhawks' catcher got down in the crouch, then stood back up for the intentional walk after the pitcher was already set to throw.

The 'Runners took the bizarre win, their first extra-inning victory since a 5-4 win in the eighth against Sacramento State in the second game of the season. Raeber earned the win, improving to 3-3 on the season, while pitching the final two innings and allowing just one hit. The senior's ERA while relieving dropped to 1.05 with the performance.

Cavazos led the way on offense, reaching base safely all five times at the plate and adding CSUB's only RBI of the game. Stockton pitched well in relief, throwing 4.2 innings while allowing one earned run and scattering four hits.

Game 2

With two outs in the bottom of the fourth, Pontecorvo doubled on a deep fly ball to center field. The senior first baseman advanced to third on a wild pitch, but was unable to score as the game remained scoreless through the first four innings. The 'Runners held a 2-1 advantage on hits at that point in the contest.

Burt recorded a one-out single in the bottom of the fifth. The sophomore from Fresno, Calif. used her fourth steal of the season to advance to second, but was stranded there to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.

Two errors helped Seattle U set up a scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth inning. With a runner on first, an infield single and a throwing error put Redhawks on the corners with just one out. A grounder to second resulted in a second error as Seattle U pulled ahead 1-0. A sacrifice fly by Maddy Kristjanson helped the Redhawks take a 2-0 advantage.

Down to their final three outs, the 'Runners started a rally. Junior Josie Flores led off the bottom of the seventh with a pinch-hit single. Two outs later, Cavazos was plunked to put two 'Runners on before Simmons' RBI single to right field brought a run home. Raeber, CSUB's offensive leader, singled up the middle as Cavazos came in and Simmons used speed to motor around the bases and score from second.

Raeber's only hit of the game was the most clutch hit of the day as the two-out, walk-off, two-RBI single gave the 'Runners a 3-2 victory. The senior utility player also picked up her second win of the day as Raeber pitched the final 1.2 innings in relief. With the victory, CSUB improved to 14-26 (5-4 WAC) and earned its first WAC series sweep since joining the league in 2014.

Senior Amber Mills pitched five scoreless innings on Saturday before the two fifth-inning errors allowed two unearned runs to come around. The Fresno, Calif. native allowed only two hits and three walks to the Redhawks as she kept CSUB in a tight game and lowered her season ERA to 2.54. Pontecorvo went 2-for-3 in the game for CSUB as the only 'Runner with multiple hits. Cavazos was 0-for-2, but added two more walks as she reached base safely seven times over the doubleheader.

“New Mexico State is always a great team,” said Buck-Ziegler. “They are a fun team to play against. We have to remain in ourselves and not worry about our opponent. That's what we're trying to do right now, especially heading into the Conference Tournament.”

The Roadrunners will return to action next weekend with another WAC series. The 'Runners will travel to Las Cruces, N.M. to take on the Aggies of New Mexico State, Apr. 22-23.

~GoRunners.com~