FULLERTON, Calif. – Seattle U softball continued its historic start to the 2023 season on Sunday, shutting out San Jose State, 6-0, before completing a seventh-inning comeback victory over Minnesota, 9-6. Graduate student Jocelynn De La Cruz capped her terrific weekend at the plate, smashing two home runs including a crucial grand slam against the Gophers. The two contests took place at the Anderson Family Field in Fullerton, Calif., as part of the Judi Garman Classic.
The Redhawks now stand at 15-5 on the season after the two victories today, marking the program's best start through 20 games in their Division I history.
GAME ONE
It didn't take De La Cruz long to hit her fifth home run of the year, crushing a ball over the left field fence to put the Redhawks ahead by two after three innings. The Redhawks would add three more in the fourth, with Sydney Frankenberger (hit), Lily Garcia (error) and Kalyn Hill (walk) all getting on base consecutively to load the bases with nobody out. Katie Walling and Tai Wilson would grab RBIs shortly after with the former hitting a sacrifice fly to right field and the latter hitting a single to right field that scored two.
The final run of the game came in the sixth when De La Cruz reached on an RBI-fielder's choice that allowed Wilson to score. Wilson originally got on base via a walk before Madison Kahwaty doubled to left field to advance Wilson to third.
Stefanie Madrigal (8-3) had another fantastic appearance in the circle, pitching a complete-game shut out with three strikeouts and only allowing four hits. Madrigal sat down six of the first seven batters and concluded the game with nine consecutive outs. Of the 21 outs in the game by the Spartans, Madrigal forced 16 of them to be ground outs.
GAME ONE SCORING SUMMARY
- Third Inning: Jocelynn De La Cruz homered to left field, scoring the Redhawks first two runs of the game.
- Fourth Inning: Katie Walling hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Sydney Frankenberger to score. Tai Wilson hit a single to right field, allowing another run to score.
- Sixth Inning: De La Cruz reached on a fielder's choice, grabbing another RBI as Wilson scored the final run of the ball game.
Seattle U scored its first run of the contest in the top of the fourth. Wilson, Kahwaty and De La Cruz hit three consecutive singles, with De La Cruz picking up the first of her five RBIs in this game.
The Redhawks exploded for eight runs in the seventh to blow the game open. Hill (single) and Lily Garcia (walk) both got on base for Walling, allowing her to tie the game with an RBI-fielder's choice. In the very next at bat, Mekenzie Madokoro pushed the Redhawks in front, reaching on another RBI-fielder's choice. Frankenberger and Wilson followed with back-to-back singles on 3-2 pitches to keep the momentum rolling. Kahwaty picked up an RBI on a full-count walk before De La Cruz sealed the game with a grand slam.
Jocelynn De La Cruz catches up with Tara Henry following a 9-6 win over Minnesota, highlighted by her grand slam ??@seattleusb x @notarabledays #D1Softball pic.twitter.com/hmXsG3uTD0
— D1Softball (@D1Softball) March 5, 2023
Izzy Dino did a fantastic job of keeping Seattle U in this game, striking out three and allowing only two earned runs in a complete game performance. With the Redhawks trailing by one, Dino sent the Golden Gophers down in order in the fifth and pitched out of a jam in the sixth. The senior improved her record to 3-1 with the win.
"This was a big win for our program," said Head Coach Geoff Hirai. "I was very proud to see our team fight the way that they did and it felt amazing to beat a Power Five team."
This is the second time this season Seattle U has taken down a Power Five school. The Redhawks defeated Iowa State, 3-2, on Feb. 18 in similar fashion, with Sydney Frankenberger walking it off on a two-RBI double.
GAME TWO SCORING SUMMARY
- Second Inning: Minnesota got on the board after two hits.
- Fourth Inning: Redhawks tied it up with a Jocelynn De La Cruz single to right field. Minnesota retook the lead with three hits in the inning.
- Seventh Inning: Walling reached on a fielder's choice, tying the game. Mekenzie Madokoro got the go-ahead RBI on a fielder's choice. Sydney Frankenberger singled to center field, scoring another. Madison Kahwaty walked with the bases loaded to score the fourth run of the inning. De La Cruz hit a grand slam, pushing the Redhawks to eight runs in the inning. Minnesota scored four runs in the bottom half on four hits.
- Jocelynn De La Cruz finished the weekend 8-for-17 (.471) with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
- Both Izzy Dino (1.75) and Stefanie Madrigal (1.24) finished the weekend with ERAs under two, throwing a combined 15 strikeouts.
- Both Sydney Frankenberger and Madison Kahwaty extended their on-base streaks, with Frankenberger at 15 games and Kahwaty at 10.
Seattle U looks forward to opening the home schedule, hosting Montana and UNLV in the Seattle U Invite next weekend. The Redhawks first contest will take place on Friday against Montana, with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
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