4-4
Alabama
10-0
Cal Poly Edged by No. 3 Alabama, Pacific at Stanford Nike Invitational
2/14/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
STANFORD – Sophomore righthander Sierra Hyland (right) kept No. 3 Alabama to two hits and scoreless for seven and two-thirds innings Saturday morning, but the Crimson Tide pushed across the decisive run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth as the Mustangs fell in their Saturday doubleheader opener at the Stanford Nike Invitational, 1-0. Cal Poly, however, also dropped the second end of its doubleheader with a 6-3 loss to Pacific.
During Saturday's opener against the third-ranked Crimson Tide (10-0) at Jill and Boyd Smith Family Stadium, Hyland (3-2) kept Alabama hitless until catcher Chaunsey Bell singled with one down in the fourth inning. Alabama collected its second hit in the bottom of the seventh, but Hyland – who walked four – failed to allow a Crimson Tide baserunner past second during the opening seven innings.
Alabama starting pitcher Sydney Littlejohn (4-0) was perfect against Cal Poly (4-5) until hitting Mustang junior first baseman Breana West with one out in the sixth. In the seventh, Mustang freshman shortstop Chelsea Convissar produced Cal Poly's first hit with a leadoff bunt. Convissar advanced to second through a sacrifice bunt by freshman center fielder Amanda Sandoval, but Mustang sophomore right fielder Courtney Tyler flew out and sophomore second baseman Ashley Tornio popped out to end the threat.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect to begin the eighth, Cal Poly was set down in order by Littlejohn with Tornio stranded on second base.
In the bottom of the eighth, however, Crimson Tide second baseman Demi Turner sacrificed center fielder Haylie McCleney to second on the first out. Four pitches later, Crimson Tide designated player Danielle Richard produced a sacrifice fly to left field to score McCleney and end the matchup.
During Saturday's second game versus Pacific (3-6), the Tigers grabbed a sizeable lead during the bottom of the second inning off of Cal Poly starting righthander Lindsey Chalmers (1-2) with five runs directed by run-scoring singles from third baseman Cassidy Gustafson and center fielder Sara Anderson, a run-scoring triple by second baseman Nicole Zapotoczny and a two-RBI hit from left fielder Molly Bourne.
Pacific then upped its lead to 6-0 in the bottom of the fourth as right fielder Toni Santos scored following a sacrifice bunt by shortstop Melanie Habib.
Cal Poly, meanwhile, was limited to just two hits through the opening four innings by Pacific starting righthander Dani Bonnet (2-3) before scratching out their three runs in the top of the fifth. With one down, Convissar placed Mustangs at the corner bases with a fielder's choice before third baseman Alejandra Garcia scored on a passed ball by Tigers catcher Rachel Sellers. Sandoval then knocked home Convissar with a single to center field. After Hyland singled in the next spot in the lineup, Tyler brought home Sandoval with a run-scoring base hit to cut Cal Poly's deficit to the final 6-3 scoreline.
Against Pacific, both Hyland and Garcia finished with two hits.
Cal Poly closes Stanford Nike Invitational action on Sunday, Feb. 15 versus Stanford at 11:30 a.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Sydney Littlejohn (4-0)
L: Hyland, Sierra (3-2)
Batting:
SH: Sandoval, Amanda 1
Base Running:
HBP: West, Breana 1
Batting:
RBI: Danielle Richard 1
SH: Demi Turner 1 ; Chandler Dare 1
SF: Danielle Richard 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Haylie McCleney 1
SB: Danielle Richard 1 ; Rachel Bobo 1
HBP: Danae Hays 1
