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The Pacific softball team knocked out nine hits and six runs to take down Cal State Northridge, 6-2, on Sunday, March 30. The win snapped a five game skid for the Tigers and moved them to 19-21 on the year and 1-2 in conference play. The Matadors fell to 13-16 overall and 2-1 in conference action.
Rebounding from a tough start to conference play a day ago, the Tigers wasted no time jumping on top of the Matadors in the third game of the series, tallying two runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the lead. After walking to start the inning, sophomore Brittany Hendrickson sparked Pacific’s two-run inning by beating out a throw to second on a ground ball hit to short by sophomore Kellee Wilson. With Hendrickson hustling into scoring position, freshman Nicole Matson posted the first Tiger run on the board, bring Hendrickson home with a double lined off the fence in left-center. With Wilson at third and only one out instead of two, senior Alyce Jorgensen lifted a fly ball to centerfield that was deep enough to bring in the second run of the inning. After the Matadors posted their first run of the game on a bloop double by Alexandria Alvarado in the top of the second inning, Pacific responded with a single run of its own in the bottom of the third. Leading the Tigers throughout the day, junior Casey Goldsand singled up the middle to start the inning, posting her first of three consecutive hits in the game. A hit batter and a foul fly moved Goldsand to third where, for the second time in the contest, Jorgensen came through with a sacrifice fly to centerfield, plating what would be the game-winning run for Pacific. As with the rest of the series, a leadoff walk led to a run in the game, this time for the Tigers when senior Mandy Hickman worked a free pass to lead off the fourth inning. Hickman finished the game 1-for-2. With Hickman aboard, three consecutive singles by the Tigers’ slap hitters led to their fourth run of the game. Hendrickson, the catalyst in the first, picked up her eighth RBI of the season with a single into centerfield to score Hickman. In the sixth inning, the Matadors closed the gap with the Tigers to just two runs on an RBI groundout by Amanda Peek. Peek was able to score Jackie Duree who reached base on a bunt single to start the inning and then moved into scoring position on a passed ball.  With their lead cut to two, Pacific put the contest out of reach in the bottom half of the inning as for the second time in the game, the 9-1-2 spots in the order came through with three consecutive hits. Freshman Lindsey Pierce started the rally off with a two-out single through the left-side of the infield. She was followed by Hendrickson who hit a shot into centerfield to put two runners on.
Capping off her strong day at the plate, Goldsand laced a triple down the rightfield line, spraying chalk as she drove home both Pierce and Hendrickson to give the Tigers a comfortable four run lead. The four runs would be important for Pacific as Cal State Northridge threatened in the top of the seventh inning, loading the bases with two outs in the inning on two walks and one hit batter. With the tying run at the plate, junior Chelsea Engle, the game’s starter for the Tigers, induced a lazy popup to Jorgensen at third to stop the Matadors and seal the victory for Pacific. Engle moved to 13-9 on the year with the victory as she allowed four hits and two runs in seven innings of work. In total, Engle walked three, in addition to hitting one batter, while striking out three. For the Matadors, Mercedez Lovato, the day one winner in both games, picked up the loss as she lasted 3.1 innings while giving up four hits and four runs.
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