ARCATA — Cal State Stanislaus needed only four hits to earn a 8-0 mercy-rule win over Humboldt State on Saturday, taking advantage of seven walks to eliminate the No. 1 seeded Lumberjacks from the NCAA Division II West Region Softball Championships.

Jennifer Arnold launched a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to end the Lumberjacks season and their bid for a return trip to the National Championship series tournament.

Arnold also earned the pitching victory, scattering six hits and striking out three with no walks in five innings of work.

CSU Stanislaus improved to 32-19 heading into Sunday's 11 a.m. championship game against Sonoma State, unbeaten in the first two days of tournament action. A CSUS win in that game would force another championship contest at 1:30 p.m.

“We stayed composed, executed the short game and hit the long ball,” CSU Stanislaus head coach Jan Schefkowitz said. “It was a great all around effort.”

Cal State Stanislaus put up two runs in the first inning, the only hit Ashlee Genseal's one-out single. That hit was wrapped around four walks surrendered by starting and losing pitcher Gracie Perez, however, giving the Warriors a quick 2-0 advantage.

The Warriors struck for a run in the third, this time without a hit. Meghan Franksen walked, moved up on a sacrifice bunt, and came home on a throwing error that allowed Kimiko Wright to reach base.

Cal State Stanislaus scored three more runs in the fourth inning, the first one coming via
a walk to Nikky Rissetto, Alicia Reid's pinch hit single and a successful squeeze bunt by Alyssa Guzman. Erica McIntyre followed with a home run to left field off reliever Nichole Parada, giving the Warriors a 6-0 advantage.

For McIntyre, it was a long battle back this week after being out on Friday with a fever. McIntyre went 0-for-4 in the first game back but her home run to left was an exclamation point for the Warriors.

"Erica is a fighter. She was still a little fuzzy and she said she took a power nap in between games today and she came through," Schefkowitz said.

Humboldt State squandered opportunities in the first and fourth innings, both times leaving runners in scoring position. In the opening frame, Nikki Ketteringham and Natalie Galletly both singled, but were stranded.

In the fourth, Galletly singled and Slattery doubled to give the Jacks runners at second and third with no outs, but two groundouts and a strikeout ended the inning with no damage sustained.

“It's the same story we've faced the whole year,” HSU head coach Frank Cheek said, after his team finished the year with a 38-20 record. “We win one and then we lose one.  This is the last time we'll do that this season.”

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