"It was nice to come back in the second game to earn the series," said head coach Dan Powers. "The seniors all had solid contributions and it was nice to close out the home-half of the 2010 schedule on a positive note."
Sunday's opening game was offensively dominated by Northern Colorado. The Bears' bats lit up early and stayed strong throughout the seven inning contest. As the designated home team on the day, they took an immediate 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first. They added an additional run the following inning, before the Seattle U offense had a chance to respond.
In the top of the third, senior Megan MacIsaac (Santa Barbara, Calif.) led off the inning with a double to right field. She was advanced to third on freshman Jessica Ulrich's (Lewiston, Idaho) single to center field. Ulrich was then advanced on senior Sandra Hernandez's (Redlands, Calif.) fly out to right field. With runners on second and third, junior Jessica Amador (Whittier, Calif.) came to the plate. She singled to shortstop to send home MacIsaac and break the Redhawks onto the board. SU was unable to put together additional offensive momentum to bring home any other runners heading into the bottom of the third.
The Bears held onto their 5-1 lead going into the bottom half of the fourth inning, when they added a sixth run off a Melisa Ryba sacrifice fly to center field.
The following inning, Seattle U worked to cut down UNC's slowly growing lead. With MacIsaac on first and an out, Ulrich came to the plate. She sailed her hit well into center field for her second triple of the season and to easily send home MacIsaac. The next batter, Hernandez closed out the scoring in the inning with her sacrifice fly to left field, which brought home Ulrich.
Garnering some offensive momentum, SU headed into the sixth inning. With one out, rookie Allegra Wilde (Kennewick, Wash.) singled to left field. She was immediately advanced on junior Katie Gould's (Medford, Ore.) single center field. Senior Katie Antich (Spokane, Wash.) was walked to load the bases for MacIsaac. The Redhawk shortstop, who hit a grand slam the day prior, slammed a single to left field to bring home Wilde. SU could not bring home any additional runners to cut down the Bears lead.
Up 6-4 in the bottom half of the sixth, Northern Colorado's offense extended their lead with an RBI single from their catcher Erin Wilkinson. Relief pitcher Hannah Klein (Camarillo, Calif.) quickly got out of the rest of the inning, after giving up the run.
In the top of the seventh, SU made a last ditch effort to stay perfect versus the Bears. Hernandez earned a one out walk and was advanced to third on Amador's double to left center. With two outs, Wilde singled to center field to score Hernandez and send Amador to third. Caitlin Melnychenko (Scottsdale, Ariz.) came in to pitch hit in an effort to extend the inning. She battled hard versus UNC's pitcher Ryba, but concluded the game with a strikeout.
Starting pitcher senior Kelsey Reynolds (Kent, Wash.) pitched 1.1 innings and had trouble finding her rhythm on the mound. She had a strikeout, but suffered the loss after giving up five runs early in the game. Klein, who took over in the circle, went 4.2 innings and had two strikeouts in 24 batters faced.
After struggling in the early game, the Redhawks bounced back in fashion to close out the home-half of the 2010 season. After going scoreless in the first inning, SU broke onto the board in the top of the second. Hernandez led off with a single to right field. Klein advanced her with a single to center field and Amador advanced both runners with a single to center field. With the bases loaded, Wilde sent home Hernandez with a sacrifice fly to center field. Senior Katie Petersen (Mission Viejo, Calif.) loaded the bases for the second time in the inning with a single down the right field line. Antich followed, reaching on an error by the Northern Colorado third baseman Melanie Buol. Klein scored on the fielding error by the Bear infielder. With the bases still loaded, MacIsaac came to the plate. She singled to center field to bring home Amador and lead to a UNC pitching change. Relief pitcher Kellie Henderson's first faced batter was Ulrich, who she walked to bring home Petersen. Two batters later, Hernandez doubled to left field to score Antich and MacIsaac, giving Seattle U an early 6-0 lead.
After struggling on defense in the top half of the inning, UNC's offense scored a lone run off a Jessica McNabb RBI single. Despite starting pitcher Ulrich giving up four hits in the inning, she prevented the Bears from scoring additional runs.
Two innings later, the Redhawks continued to play offensively sound softball. After a lead off out by Antich, MacIsaac reached on an error by the Northern Colorado shortstop Megan Hamilton. She was advanced to second following Ulrich's walk. The bases were loaded by the next batter Theresa Clark (Lakewood, Colo.), who was also walked. With one out and the bases loaded, Henderson gave up her third consecutive walk to Hernandez and sent home MacIsaac. Starting pitcher Jamie Juelfs reentered the game to take over duties on the mound. The Redhawk offense continued to get runners home, as Ulrich scored on Klein's foul out to right field. Amador then came to the plate and doubled to left center to score both Clark and Hernandez, and to send SU into the bottom of the fourth with a 10-1 lead.
In the bottom half of the inning, UNC added two runs to make it a 10-3 game. In the seventh they worked to keep the inning alive and their chances at splitting the entire series. Behind three hits they scored a pair of runs, but Seattle U remained composed and was able to come away with the victory.
Pitcher Ulrich earned her fourth straight victory on the mound, going 7.0 innings, while throwing out two in 34 batters faced. She also had a standout day at the plate. She was 3-for-5, with three walks, two RBIs and two runs.
Hernandez had a great day at the plate as well, going 2-for-4, with four RBIs, three runs and three walks. Classmate MacIsaac also was solid at the plate all weekend for the Redhawks. She was 4-for-8, with four runs, two RBIs and a walk in Sunday's action.
The Redhawks will travel to Delta, B.C. to take on Simon Fraser in a makeup game on Monday, May 3. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. They will close out the season in Portland, Ore. with a weekend series at Portland State on May 8-9. Game time is set for noon on both Saturday and Sunday.