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March 12, Cal State Bakersfield: CSUB vs North Dakota, at Cal State Bakersfield on March 12, 2019. David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography
David Dennis/All-Star Sports Photography
6
Winner Grand Canyon GCU 33-23
4
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 15-32
Winner
Grand Canyon GCU
33-23
6
Final
4
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
15-32
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Grand Canyon GCU 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 6 8 2
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 4 5 2

W: Denhart, Ryan (11-7) L: Hitzel, Daryn (5-13) S: Aguilar, Brianna (4)

Game Recap: Softball |

CSUB Drops Fierce Battle, Bows Out of WAC Tournament



PHOENIX – CSU Bakersfield's season came to an end on Friday evening after a fierce battle at the Western Athletic Conference Softball Tournament. The Roadrunners took an early lead on tournament host Grand Canyon, then fell behind in the third inning. Bakersfield roared back with a valiant comeback effort, but the `Runner eventually fell to the third-seeded Lopes, 6-4, and were eliminated from title contention.

CSUB jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run blast from senior Chris Hipa. The powerful second baseman cleared the left field safety net, sending the ball to the soccer field across the street, just as fellow senior Nicole Curry did on Wednesday night. Friday afternoon's homer scored Curry and was the 15th of Hipa's career, third-most in CSUB's Division I history.

The Lopes created a great scoring chance in the top of the third inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Sierra Smith blooped a two-RBI single into right field. The next batter, Savannah Tourville, sent a three-run shot over the left field wall to put GCU ahead 5-2. Grand Canyon continued its big inning and got a little help on a CSUB error. The botched play allowed another Lope to score as the tournament host took a 6-2 advantage.

The game settled down after the third inning with GCU starter Ryan Denhart and CSUB reliever Kiara Azevedo finding a groove. Bakersfield's freshman pitcher threw three-straight scoreless innings while striking out a trio of Lopes. Azevedo's efforts in the circle gave the `Runners a chance to come from behind.

After four scoreless innings of their own, CSUB's offense capitalized on a defensive miscue in the bottom of the sixth. Paige Johnson reached on a fielding error and was promptly plated on Curry's third home run of the tournament. Bakersfield was able to cut GCU's lead in half with one swing, but went to the bottom of the seventh inning needing two runs to stay alive.

GCU got two quick grounders to bring CSUB down to its final of the game. The `Runners rekindled their rally with a two-out single by pinch hitter Makayla Lopez. Cydney Curran had a hard-hit comebacker glance off the glove of the GCU pitcher and the speedy shortstop legged out an infield single to put the potential tying run on base. CSUB's rally ended there as a grounder shut down the comeback with GCU sealing a 6-4 victory.

While coming up short on Friday evening, the `Runners overcame the odds as the lowest seed in the tournament. CSUB outlasted two other teams and nearly upset the No. 3 Lopes on their home field.

Bakersfield's senior leaders catalyzed the team's efforts in Phoenix. Hipa ended the WAC Tournament batting 6-for-10 (.600) with a home run and RBI. Johnson, CSUB's starting third baseman, went 4-for-10 (.400) with a pair of RBI. Curry, a redshirt senior who was forced to sit out 2018 after a preseason broken foot, put together a massive performance at the plate going 4-for-9 (.444) with a home run in each game and five RBI on the week.

The `Runners will miss their five graduating seniors – Hipa, Johnson, Curry, Maxine Langenberg, and Nadia Amezcua – but looks to a bright future with a number of underclassmen earning valuable playing time during the 2019 season.
 
~GoRunners.com~
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