Softball trounces St. Mary's
By Brian Betz
The Santa Clara women's softball team was impressive Sunday afternoon in their sweep of local rival St. Mary's. On a day that honored seniors Kristi Harrington, Deanna Rodriguez and Sydney Wiginton, the women beat the Gaels by scores of 4-0 and 7-1, respectively.
"Our seniors have been great leaders all season," Head Coach Marcy Crouch said. "Their desire to compete and win has meant so much to this team. They come out every day with a fire to improve as individuals and as a team."
Sound pitching and stellar hitting were keys in the two wins. In game one, freshman starter Jennifer Ponzo pitched six scoreless innings before freshman Kelley Johnson came in to record the save. Freshman Lacey Smale's RBI triple in the first, scoring Wiginton, helped the Broncos jump out to an early lead that they would cease to relinquish. Insurance runs were added in both the second and fifth innings to support Ponzo in the winning effort. The victory marks Ponzo's fifth on the season.
Game two proved worse for the Gaels. In what was the final home game at Marsalli Park for the three seniors, the trio combined for seven of the Broncos' 12 hits throughout the contest. Rodriguez was nearly flawless on the hill, striking out six while going the distance for her ninth win of the season.
Sunday's wins came after Saturday's showdown with Cal Poly, in which the Broncos split the doubleheader with the Mustangs. The two teams are hardly strangers, as each had notched a victory over the other earlier in the season.
Ponzo was brilliant, allowing just three hits and striking out four in the complete game effort. A three-run third was capped with sophomore Rachel Sherman's triple that scored Harrington and Smale to take the 3-0 lead. The Mustangs failed to get runners into scoring position all game due to the stifling Bronco defense. The game finished at 4-0 after Santa Clara added a late run in the sixth inning.
Despite another dominating pitching performance by Rodriguez in game two, Cal Poly was able to manufacture a run in the sixth that would hold up to give the Mustangs the 1-0 victory and the series split. Wiginton went a combined 4-for-5 on the day with one RBI and one run scored.
"We played very, very well all weekend," Crouch said. "The emotion really showed on senior day. We came out and hit the ball extremely well and our pitchers were outstanding."
On Tuesday Santa Clara lost two close games to cross-town rivals San Jose State. The Spartans edged the Broncos in nine innings 3-2, despite sophomore Rachel Sherman's third homerun of the season and two runs scored. In the second game of the doubleheader the Broncos were unable to overcome a two-run first inning by the Spartans. Salas scored the sole Santa Clara run in the sixth inning on a double by Smale.
With the three wins on the weekend, Santa Clara softball has surpassed last season's win total with 19 thus far, a mark that ties the most wins any Broncos team has achieved since 1996. The team travels to face LMU and USD before they start WISL Championship play in May.