TURLOCK, Calif. -- VU softball had two strong performances at the Stanislaus Tournament of Champions on Saturday but ended the day 1-1. VU was clinical against Chico State in a 4-0 victory and had a 1-0 lead against Saint Martin's (Wash.), but the Saints scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to win 2-1. The Lions enter Sunday at 3-8.
VU 4 Chico State 0 Vanguard had a phenomenal outing from
Mia Iacomini, who allowed only one hit and surrendered one walk in five innings.
Mari Ipatzi relieved her and gave up only one hit over the final two innings to preserve the victory, with Iacomini improving to 1-1 on the season. Even though the defense had two errors, the Lions kept the Wildcats off the board and turned timely plays to keep a zero in the most important category on the scoreboard.
Meanwhile, the offense was productive with the five hits from five different players. VU scored the first run in the bottom of the second as
Tiffany Pope reached on an error and then stole second with two outs.
Gaby Ramirez brought home Pope by slicing a single through the left side of the infield to give the Vanguard pitchers a lead they would not relinquish.
The bottom of the fourth produced two more tallies, as
Mia Hernandez took a leadoff walk, and an error allowed
Adriana Portillo to reach base to place runners on first and second. A past ball pushed both runners forward and Ramirez delivered the goods again by smacking a single to left field to score
Andrea Connor, who had pinch-ran for Hernandez.
Ahead 2-0, the Blue and Gold doubled the advantage in the bottom of the fifth.
Megan Ireland led off with a single and a groundout by
Amarah Farley sent her to second. After a walk was issued to
Kamryn Walker, Hernandez hit a single to load the bases and Portillo sent a single back up the middle to score two and make the lead 4-0. The squad was clean from there and closed out the win to earn the second shutout of the year.
The Lions had four runs on five hits, two errors, and six runners left on base. Chico State had two hits and two errors and left five runners aboard. Ramirez went 2-for-2 from the plate and drove in two VU runs, with Portillo going one-for-three and driving in the other two.
VU 1 SM 2 Vanguard had the opening chances to score, highlighted by getting the bases loaded in the top of the second, but the breakthrough would not arrive until the top of the fourth.
Lilyana Roth boomed a double to center field to start the frame and she got to third on a groundout by
Adrianna Natividad. Connor came to the plate with two outs and a bad fielding attempt by the Saint Martin's pitcher allowed her to reach first and Roth to scamper home.
Brianna Williams kept the Saints to zero hits to through three innings and though the designated home team juiced the bases in the bottom of the fourth, Williams and company locked it down and kept the Saints off the scoreboard.
Connor doubled to lead off the top of the seventh and she tried to score two batters later as
Aeri Corral slapped a single to center, but she was thrown out at home. VU entered the bottom of the seventh ahead 1-0, but the advantage was soon in peril after a leadoff double for the Saints. Williams got a strikeout but that was followed by another single to put runners at the corners. Unfortunately, Saint Martin's got back-to-back singles from there for a walk-off 2-1 win to deny Vanguard a clean sweep on Saturday.
Vanguard had one run on eight hits and nine runners left on base. Saint Martin's had two runs on seven hits, three errors, and six runners left on the base paths. Williams falls to 1-5 but fanned three over her time in the circle. Hernandez went 2-for-3, as did Connor, who had the lone RBI for the squad in game two.
What's Next? Vanguard plays Simon Fraser tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.
