The CSUN softball team hosted Seattle at the Matador Diamond on Saturday morning. The Matadors battled through a slow start but ultimately fell short 6-2.
After a quiet first inning from both sides, the scoring started in the top half of the second inning. Redhawks Nicola Simpson was in a 2-2 count, connected on a ball, and drove over the center field wall to take an early 1-0 lead. CSUN pitcher Isabella Alonso would halt their momentum getting the next three outs of the following four batters. The Matadors would remain scoreless.
The third inning started to heat up for the Redhawks when two runners brought it home from Taylor Fitch’s triple to left field bouncing off the wall, giving them a 3-0 lead over CSUN. The Matador’s catcher, Kylie Galindo, would get a force out a couple of batters later at home, preventing another run.
Although the fourth inning was scoreless, it had its moments where it seemed CSUN would capitalize off its opportunities. With two outs and the bases loaded, Matadors outfielder Mikayla Carman hit the ball to left field. What looked to be a game-changer for the Matadors suddenly switched in a heartbeat as Seattle’s Tai Wilson made a leaping grab at the fence to secure the final out of the inning.
CSUN Head Coach Charlotte Morgan understands they are getting opportunities but struggle to take advantage of them.
“I think understanding that we’re getting the opportunities, we’re getting people on base, we just have to have better quality at-bats when we’re getting our runners on,” Morgan said.
The Redhawks would score their fourth run of the game in the fifth inning, but CSUN refused to back down and answered back. With two runners on second and third base, first baseman Tiara Westbrook came up clutch with an RBI single, cutting the deficit in half 4-2 and bringing the crowd’s energy back.
One of the runners, Rhea Furtado, said Westbrook helped the team capitalize by bringing both runners home.
“I think, just doing whatever you could to bring up the score, and it all started with TT who was the batter who brought us both home. So just pushing for her and for the team, and just doing anything we can to score,” Furtado said.
Even though CSUN cut the deficit to 4-2, Redhawks infielder Brooklyn Jones struck back with an RBI double in the sixth inning to make it a three-run lead of 5-2.
The Redhawks would deal CSUN the final blow by adding another run in the seventh inning. The Matadors could not mount a comeback and were handed their third straight loss.
Morgan said the takeaway from the game is capitalizing early.
“Again, we got to be a little cleaner on defense. We can’t keep having errors. We can’t keep flipping over, giving them extra hitters and more pitchers. So again, there are some things that we started doing a little well, but it’s not to our standard, and we need to be able to capitalize earlier and make better adjustments sooner throughout the whole game,” Morgan said.
With two hits, Carman is now batting .318 and has at least one hit every time in the last five games. Westbrook notched her first pair of RBIs since transferring from Oregon State.
