TURLOCK—The Chico State softball team was brimming with confidence heading into Saturday's second day of the Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock. The Wildcats began the three-day event with two satisfying wins on Friday, but Saturday was a much different story. The 'Cats found themselves on the short end of a pair of tough to swallow one-run decisions, falling to Saint Martin's 2-1 at Warrior Field on the campus of Stanislaus State, followed by a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Dominican at Pedretti Park.
Saturday's two losses dropped Chico State to 13-14 on the season. The Wildcats totaled a combined eight hits on the day, with Hailey Seva and Katelyn Oldwin collecting two safeties apiece.
The Wildcats' first game Saturday was a low-scoring affair against Saint Martin's, one of the top teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Chico State wasted little time getting on the board, as Grace Stover led off the bottom of the first inning with a walk and scored on a Tayler Berens double. The Wildcats had chances to add to their lead, but stranded five runners on base in the first two innings.
Saint Martin's used a walk, sacrifice bunt, and back-to-back singles to tie up the contest in the top of the third. Chico State got runners into scoring position in both the third and fourth innings, but came up empty each time.
In the top of the fifth, a leadoff double by Saint Martin's was cashed in when Destiny Conerly scored on a Wildcats throwing error. The Wildcats tried to answer in the bottom of the inning, with Berens drawing a leadoff walk. The Saints went to the bullpen and brought in righthander Chloe Leverington, who snuffed out the rally by retiring three straight Chico State batters.
Berens would turn out to be the 'Cats' final baserunner of the contest, as Leverington tossed 1-2-3 innings in both the sixth and seventh to secure Saint Martin's 2-1 victory.
Saturday evening, the 'Cats took on Dominican of the Pacific West Conference. The Penguins drew first blood with a run in the bottom of the first inning, but Oldwin—making her second start of the day in the pitcher's circle—avoided further damage by wiggling out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. Dominican struck again with a run in the bottom of the second to go up 2-0.
The Penguins scored again in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Wildcats pulled to within a run in the top of the sixth. Three straight singles by Blaire Willson, Rachael Bles, and Seva got Chico State on the board, and a sacrifice fly by Stover chased home Bles to make it a one-run contest.
Down to their final out in the top of the seventh, the 'Cats were able to get the tying run aboard, but were unable to come up with the clutch hit needed to keep the late-inning rally going, and Dominican was able to hang on for the 3-2 victory.
Chico State wraps up the Tournament of Champions Sunday with a single game versus Western Oregon. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m.; fans can follow the action online with Live Stats, with the link available on the Wildcat Athletics homepage or the softball schedule page.
