TURLOCK — The Warriors used 15 hits in the nightcap and scored six runs in the sixth to pound Cal State East Bay as they opened the 2015 conference season with a split Friday night at Warrior Softball Field.
Cassidy Duke led the Cal State Stanislaus offensive charge as the Warriors beat the Pioneers, 8-1, in game two of the doubleheader. Cal State East Bay had used a five-run seventh in the opener to blow open a tight game to win 7-1, snapping a five-game skid to the Warriors when playing in Turlock.
The Warriors, now 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, will host the same East Bay Pioneers (6-2, 1-1 CCAA) Saturday at Noon to complete the opening series.
In the doubleheader, Duke went 5-for-7 with three doubles and drove in three runs to lead the charge.
Holly Mooring and
Nicolette Vizcaino each also went 4-for-6 with Mooring homering in the nightcap — a two-run blast in the Warriors' six-run sixth.
As a team, Stanislaus batted .424 on the day with 25 hits. The Warriors again stole bases and went 6-for-6 on the basepaths on Friday. They have now successfully stolen 17 consecutive bases in the last three games.
Before the Warriors can get to the big six-run inning,
Natalie Rendon kept the team in the game with a great relief appearance. The senior pitcher threw 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowed just four hits and struck out eight to keep the game a 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth.
Amy Pedretti, who drove in the only run in the first game, started the sixth inning rally for the Warriors. She started the frame with a single and eventually scored on a Duke double to left, which also drove in Vizcaino. With Duke standing at second with her second double of the game, Mooring hit a two-run bomb to left to make it 6-1.
The rally continued with an
Alex Rowell double before the Pioneers was able to record a second out. A
Jessica Varady single and a
Gabby Dias double later the Warriors led 8-1.
Dias went 3-for-4 and Mooring ended up 3-for-3 in the nightcap. Pedretti and Varady each also had three hits on the day.
Varady pitched game one and threw 6 1/3 innings. She allowed four runs on six hits and also struckout eight.
