In bracket play at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions Sunday at Pedretti Park, the 13th-ranked Seattle University softball team defeated Cal State Monterey Bay, 4-2, before finishing its game against Cal State Dominguez Hills in a 4-4 tie after seven innings due to travel considerations.
Against Cal State Monterey Bay, Seattle University jumped on top in the third inning as Jessica Amador (Whittier, Calif.) walked and Katie Antich (Spokane, Wash.) was hit by a pitch. Megan MacIsaac (Santa Barbara, Calif.) singled to drive in Amador, and Lauren Berin (Lacey, Wash.) followed with a three-run home run to give the Redhawks a 4-0 lead.
Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning, Alixis Villarin hit a long fly ball to center field that Katie Petersen (Mission Viejo, Calif.) caught while falling over the temporary fencing. However, because at least one of Petersen’s feet was off the ground when she reached over the fence to make the catch, it was ruled a home run. The Otters scored another run in the seventh inning, but Erin Martin (Valencia, Calif.) was able to get the final two outs to advance the Redhawks.
In the next game, Cal State Dominguez Hills took the lead in the top of the first inning with three runs on three singles, a throwing error, and a sacrifice fly. Seattle University responded in the bottom of the inning when MacIsaac doubled and scored on a Toro error, followed by a single by Jamie Foote (Lynnwood, Wash.) that scored Berin.
Each team scored single runs in the fourth inning, and Seattle University tied the game in the fifth as Brenda Stice (Poulsbo, Wash.) doubled and scored on back-to-back groundouts by Foote and Kaha Weir (Honolulu, Hawaii). Neither team was able to pull ahead in regulation, and then the Seattle University coaches informed the umpires and the Toro coaches that the team needed to leave in order to catch its flight back to Seattle. The umpires have decided to invoke NCAA rule 6.19.1.2, which gives Cal State Dominguez Hills the victory via forfeit, a decision that will be appealed by Seattle University.
Seattle University (22-6-1) goes back to conference play, starting Friday, April 4 with a trip to Bellingham, Wash., to face Western Washington in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. Seattle University will then host Western Washington at Logan Field Sunday, April 6, in a GNAC doubleheader beginning at 12 noon.