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Sara Holdridge batting
John Hefti/KLCFotos.com
Sara Holdridge finished the first day of the Tournament of Champions 5-for-10 at the plate with three homeruns and six RBI for East Bay.

Pioneers Post 2-1 Record to Open Tournament of Champions

3/30/2012 12:41:00 PM

By: Kelly Hayes, Sports Information Director
Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3
Game 1 box | Game 2 box | Game 3 box

Tournament Central | Tournament Stats

TURLOCK, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay softball team kicked off the 2012 Mizuno Tournament of Champions with wins in two out of three pool play games on the first day of the event. The Pioneers (20-17) started the day off with a 10-8 win over Northwest Nazarene before falling to Notre Dame de Namur, 5-1, and capping opening day with a 6-1 victory over Hawaii Hilo.

Game 1: Cal State East Bay 10, Northwest Nazarene 8
The Pioneers got off to a rocky start in the top of the first, loading the bases with no outs before getting a pair on a fly ball to center that saw Mishka Hamor throw home to Taylor Neumann to get the runner at the plate. The Crusaders weren't done, however, as they got a single to re-load the bases before a double to left brought in all three runs to give NNU a 3-0.

East Bay answered back in the bottom half of the inning, scoring six runs on seven hits and an error. Taryn Thomas led off with a single before Heidi McAllister followed with a walk and Jamie Yaller doubled to bring in Thomas to cut the lead to 3-1. With one out and two runners on, Sara Holdridge blasted a shot over the fence in right center to give East Bay a 4-3 advantage. Emily Montanez continued the rally with a single up the middle and moved to third on a double from Talia Ferrari to bring up Devon Mercurio with one out. Mercurio reached on a fielding error, bringing in Montanez before a single from Hamor scored Ferrari to put East Bay up 6-3.

The Crusaders got one back after putting together a pair of hits in the top of the second to pull within two, 6-4. After a scoreless third, the Pioneers extended their lead to five, scoring three runs on four hits. Mercurio led off with a single up the middle and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. Following a Thomas walk, Yaller singled to right center to bring in a pair. Neumann and Holdridge both singled to bring in Yaller and give the Pioneers a 9-4 lead.

The five-run advantage didn't last long, as NNU posted a four-spot in the top of the fourth, knocking starter Kelly Colker from the game and shrinking the Pioneer lead to just one run, 9-8, before reliever Heidi McAllister got out of the inning to hold the lead.

East Bay still held the lead going into the bottom of the sixth, when Holdridge drove in her fifth run of the game to give the Pioneers some breathing room. Though reliever Lauren Zweigle allowed one hit in the seventh, she finished off the game and picked up her second save of the season after throwing two innings of shutout, one-hit softball while striking out five.

Holdridge finished 3-for-4 with five RBI and two runs to lead East Bay at the plate, while Yaller was 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI. Thomas added two runs and both Mercurio and Hamor drove in a run apiece for the Pioneers.

McAllister picked up her first win in her first pitching appearance of the year, throwing 1.2 innings of scoreless relief and allowing just one hit. Colker allowed five earned runs on eight hits in 3.1` innings of work.

Game 2: Notre Dame de Namur 5, Cal State East Bay 1
The Argonauts got a stellar pitching performance from Hillary Ruddick, who allowed just one run on eight hits in the complete game victory. Ruddick also got help from her defense, which turned a double play and forced East Bay to strand nine runners on base.

On the other side, freshman Andi Andersen made her third start of the season, allowing five runs on six hits in five innings of work before being relieved by Zweigle, who tossed one scoreless inning. NDNU got to Andersen in the bottom of the third for four runs on three hits and a walk and sealed the win with another run in the sixth.

The Pioneers got their lone run in their last ups, finally putting together three hits and getting the RBI single from Breezy Johnson, who drove in Devin Salmones to break up the shutout.

Game 3: Cal State East Bay 6, Hawaii Hilo 1
Cal State East Bay got to the Vulcans early and often in Friday's finale, getting a pair of homeruns. After Hilo got on the board in the bottom of the first, the Pioneers answered back in the top of the second, putting together a two-out rally to score three runs. After Salmones and Montanez worked back-to-back two-out walks, Devon Mercurio singled to center to drive in the tying run. Hamor loaded the bases with the third walk of the inning and Thomas brought another two runs in thanks to an error by Hilo that put the Pioneers up 3-1.

After Ferrari  sat down the Vulcans in order in the bottom of the second, East Bay was back at it again in the third, scoring another pair on a double from Yaller and a two-run blast by Neumann. The homer was Neumann's 14th of the season, bringing her within four of the CCAA single season record of 18.

Leading 5-1, Ferrari continued to roll, holding the Vulcans to just two hits over the final four innings. Meanwhile, Holdridge added another run for East Bay with her third homerun of the day – a solo shot down the left field line in the sixth – which brought her season total to 11 and gave the Pioneers a 6-1 advantage. Despite two errors in the bottom of the seventh, Ferrari got a double play to finish off the complete game win.

Ferrari improved to 7-3 after allowing just one run on four hits and striking out three in seven innings of work. Both Thomas and Neumann drove in a pair of runs for East Bay, while Yaller finished 2-for-4 with a run and Holdridge drove in and scored a run.

Holdridge finished the day 5-for-10 with six RBI, three runs and three homers. Yaller joined her batting .500 (5-for-10), scoring three runs and driving in three while posting a pair of doubles on the day. In the circle, both Ferrari and McAllister picked up wins and the four pitchers posted 14 strikeouts, with Andersen, Zweigle and Ferrari combining to allow just seven hits in 11.2 combined innings of work on the first day of the tournament.

Cal State East Bay will return to action on Saturday afternoon, when it will meet Central Washington and Hawaii Pacific to cap pool play at the tournament. The Pioneers and Wildcats are set to get underway at 2:15 p.m. on Saturday at Pitman High School in Turlock. Live stats for the first game on Saturday will be available here.

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