DAVIS, CA - The Fairleigh Dickinson University softball team dropped both decisions in a pair of games a Friday afternoon, falling 7-0 to Sacramento State and 3-1 to UC Davis. The losses push the Knights to 4-12 on the season.
FDU returns to action tomorrow when they take on Santa Clara at 12:30 p.m. EST and UC Davis at 2:30.
Game One: Sacramento State 7, Fairleigh Dickinson 0
The Knights kept pace with a tough Hornets team for the first three innings of the game Friday morning, giving up a lone run through three frames off of a single up the middle.
One inning later, catcher Reanna Cervantes stopped another possible Hornets opportunity with a perfectly thrown ball to second base to catch Nene Alas on a steal.
A heads up play on the next at bat by pitcher Irene Herrera doubled off SCU to end the inning, as Herrera snagged a hard-hit line-drive before turning to first and doubling off Zamari Hinton to end the inning.
The dam broke in the fourth, however, as SCU exploded for a five-hit, six run rally that pushed their lead to 7-0. Sydnee Strong belted a grand slam over the left field wall as SCU grabbed a 5-0 advantage before the Hornets ended the run with a couple more insurance runs to make it 7.
The Knights had their chances to strike back, however three strikeouts in the bottom of the fifth helped the Hornets escape a potential comeback despite singles from Logan Kolehmainen and Summer Mendoza.
The Knights finished with five hits and no errors on the afternoon. Pitcher Abby England receives the loss, pushing her record to 2-3 on the season.
Game Two: UC Davis 3, Fairleigh Dickinson 1
The Knights and Aggies met in what turned into a good, old-fashioned pitchers duel, with FDU hurler Erica Johnson and UC Davis pitcher Katie Kibby combined to give up just eight hits on the afternoon.
The Knights managed a pair of hits in the opening frame courtesy of Jaymee Jackson and Madison Emerson, however nothing materialized on the scoresheet.
Johnson was dynamic in the circle for FDU, giving up just one hit, a single, through her first five innings, retiring fifteen of her next 18 batters faced, including 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth.
Johnson went into the sixth, however the Aggies bats finally caught up to her. Following a lead-off triple from Alex Sotomayor, UC Davis managed to add a run and put a pair of runners on before Johnson was finally relieved in favor of Baylee Ports.
Ports did not fare much better, however, as the Aggies added two more to push their lead to 3-0.
FDU recouped one in the top of the seventh off a Kolehmainen single up the middle, however the rally fell short.
Johnson receives the loss, pushing her record to 1-5. FDU finished with four hits and no errors.
