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California State University at Bakersfield Athletics

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CydneyCurranNE04
Nick Ellis
6
Winner UC Riverside UCR 25-24, 16-11 Big West
2
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 8-37, 3-24 Big West
Winner
UC Riverside UCR
25-24, 16-11 Big West
6
Final
2
CSU Bakersfield CSUB
8-37, 3-24 Big West
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
UC Riverside UCR 0 1 0 1 0 1 3 6 12 1
CSU Bakersfield CSUB 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 4 3

W: Chrys Hildebrand (13-10) L: Castillo, Reina (2-20) S: Katie Barbarick (2)

Game Recap: Softball |

2022 Season Wrapped as CSUB Softball Battled UCR

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – The 2022 softball season came to an end on Saturday afternoon for CSU Bakersfield. Battling UC Riverside in a Big West Conference showdown, the Roadrunners fought all the way to the final pitch, but a two-run, seventh-inning rally fell short as the visiting Highlanders earned a 6-2 victory to close out the year.

CSUB returned to the field after nearly two seasons off due to the COVID pandemic and the young squad experienced many growing pains throughout the 2022 campaign, signs of future strength according to Head Coach Crissy Buck-Ziegler: "It's the little things that we've got to shore up and really work on in the Fall and moving forward. We need to be stronger as a team and I think we'll get there. We're going to have a lot of people take this experience and learn from it and be stronger from it."

Buck-Ziegler also said she enjoyed seeing the team close out the season on a positive note: "I liked what I saw in that last inning. It started with Cydney Curran doubling off the wall the inning before and then it continued with Cieana Curran and Kayla Tadewosian both reaching base in the last at bats of their careers. It started with Cyd and it's awesome that our team followed her, just like she has led all season long…There were a lot of positive things that happened there in the seventh."

Saturday's season finale featured a close fight between the `Runners and the visiting Highlanders. UC Riverside gained a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, then slowly extended that advantage, adding a single run in the fourth and sixth innings. It was not until a three-run top of the seventh broke open the game as UCR took a 6-0 lead to the final three outs.

Bakersfield continued pushing and started a seventh-inning rally with its seniors leading the way. Three-straight singles set up a bases-loaded opportunity for freshman Maya Molina-Villareal, who sent a deep sacrifice fly to the warning track for CSUB's first run of the day. Samantha Pech's grounder later drove in` a second `Runner, but a game-ending double play closed the door on Bakersfield's rally and the season.

CSUB's roster featured 13 freshmen in 2022 and the `Runners (8-37, 3-24 Big West) will take the lessons learned into the 2023 season. Bakersfield's second official year in the competitive Big West Softball league is shaping up to be a better run as the `Runners push toward their eventual goal of winning a conference championship and returning to the NCAA Tournament.

~GoRunners.com~
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