Softball wins two on road trip
By Brian Betz
The Santa Clara softball team took their game south this past week to face UC Riverside, Loyola Marymount and San Diego. Santa Clara recorded two wins on the weekend, as they split with both Riverside and LMU.
Friday's affair with the Highlanders of Riverside started off with a close 2-0 win, in which Bronco freshman pitcher Jennifer Ponzo threw a complete game shutout for her sixth win of the season. Ponzo's run support came in the form of a sophomore Rachel Sherman two-run dinger down the left field line that held up for the game's entirety.
The nightcap did not fair as well for the Broncos. Santa Clara got behind early in the first on a Highlanders' RBI single and a sacrifice fly that gave Riverside the 2-0 lead. Sherman again wielded the lumber with a solo shot of her own in the fifth, but that was as close as the Broncos would come the rest of the match. Senior Deanna Rodriguez took the loss despite only giving up three runs on eight hits.
Saturday's meeting with LMU saw the same results, as Santa Clara dropped game one by a score of 5-1 before bouncing back in game two with the 4-0 shutout.
Game two's win snapped the Lion's seven-game win streak and gave Rodriguez her tenth win on the year. The senior pitcher gave up only five hits while fanning four on the afternoon. Junior catcher Roni Rivera went 3-for-3 with an RBI single that scored freshman Lacey Smale to get the Broncos on the board in the second. Two more runs were tacked on in the third, while a fourth insurance run was added in the seventh to ensure the win.
Late inning runs were a problem for the women on Sunday. San Diego scored four runs with two outs in the seventh inning of game one before taking the contest 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth. In the nightcap, the Toreros scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to overcome a lead that the Broncos had held since the first inning. Junior Coresta Salas went a combined 4-for-8 while Smale went 4-for-6 on the day.
"Sunday's losses were heartbreaking for us," Head Coach Marcy Crouch said. "However we have a little time off this week, and the girls are as fired up as ever to get out there again and compete."
The two losses drop the Broncos to 21-34 on the season. However, with one more win, Santa Clara softball will eclipse the highest number of wins for any Broncos softball squad since 1995. That win could come as early as Saturday, when the women finish off their road trip with a doubleheader against St. Mary's. The Broncos have their number on the season, with the two wins they recorded less than two weeks ago.
Saturday will also mark the end of the regular season for the women, who will then await the WISL Championships the following weekend. The Broncos are scheduled for showdowns with San Diego, Loyola Marymount and St. Mary's, all whom they have developed rivalries with on the year.
"The WISL tournament should be a lot of fun," Crouch said. "We still have some team goals left to accomplish, which I expect we can achieve before the season's end."