The Cal State Northridge softball team started their 2010 season by going 1-5 this weekend at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe Ariz. CSUN faced two nationally ranked opponents in No. 1 Washington and No. 15 Northwestern but were unable to get victories. The Matadors also had losses against North Dakota, Texas A&M and Oregon. The one bright spot was CSUN’s come from behind win against Purdue on Saturday. They could have had a few more wins if their offense had not left 43 players on base in six games.
“We need to show up for the whole game.” Matador Jennifer Mosier said about winning close games.
CSUN vs. North Dakota State
CSUN started the tournament with a 3-2 loss against North Dakota State on Friday. The Matadors got on the scoreboard first when Jaci Carlsen scored in the first inning. CSUN added to their lead by getting another run in the third inning. The Bison rallied back in the fifth inning after the Matadors pulled starting pitcher Mia Pagano for reliever Hannah Fraijo. The Bison got three unearned runs, which started with a throwing error by Fraijo that allowed two runs to come home.
CSUN vs. No. 15 Northwestern
In the second game of Friday’s doubleheader CSUN sent their ace Debbie Duran to the mound against No. 15 Northwestern, but she had a rocky start to the season giving up six hits and five earned runs. The Matadors fell 6-3 to Northwestern and Duran picked up her first loss of the season.
CSUN tied the game at 3-3 in the fourth inning when Lauren Olivas hit an RBI single to center field. Then Northwestern took over the ball game by adding two more runs in the fifth and one more in the seventh.
The Matadors had six hits and left five runners on base against the Wildcats.
CSUN vs. Purdue
CSUN had a two-out rally in the seventh inning to give them a 3-2 win over Purdue Saturday afternoon.
The Matadors were down 2-0 coming into the seventh inning but CSUN’s Alexandria Alvarado doubled to score Olivas cutting the Boliermakers lead to one. Purdue replaced their starting pitcher, but that didn’t stop the Matadors from scoring. With bases loaded Tracey Allen walked to tie the game at 2-2. Then Christina Saenz was hit by a pitch to give CSUN the win.
CSUN vs. No. 1 Washington
Saturday night the Matadors lost 10-5 against the defending national champs and top-ranked Washington.
The Huskies scored in the first inning with a two-run home run by Danielle Lawrie to give them a 2-0 advantage. The Matadors came back to tie the game 2-2 with a solo homerun from Allen and a run scored by Saenz.
The game was tied at 3-3 in the fifth inning but the Huskies took control of the game when Lawrie hit a grand slam off of Duran.
CSUN vs. Texas A&M
The Matadors lost to Texas A&M 8-2 in a morning matinee. Texas scored six runs in the first four innings to give them a 6-0 lead. CSUN tried to rally back in the fifth inning with a two-run homer from Mosier to cut the lead 6-2, but Texas added two more runs in the sixth to secure their win.
CSUN vs. Oregon
The last game of the series CSUN lost 3-2 over the Oregon Ducks in extra innings. Pitcher Fraijo went 7.1 innings giving up seven hits, two runs and had seven strikeouts.
It was a 1-1 tie by the end of the seventh and in extra innings CSUN would score to give them a 2-1 lead in the top of the eight. In the bottom of the eighth the Ducks scored two runs to give them the win.
“It was a heartbreaker,” first baseman Rymer said about the loss to the Ducks. “We work so hard, but sometimes it works out that way.”
