Iowa State Softball Falls to Cal State Northridge in Extra Innings

POWAY, Calif. - Cal State Northridge defeated Iowa State, 8-4 in 10 innings Saturday at the San Diego State tournament in San Diego, Calif. Cyclone sophomore designated hitter Erica Martinez had two hits and one RBI.

Iowa State struck first scoring one run in the bottom of the third. Senior Kimi Yoshizawa doubled to left field to start off the inning. Freshman Ashley Core pinch ran for Yoshizawa and advanced to third on an Adi Blackmon bunt. Blackmon stole second and advanced to third on a Laura Browning fielder's choice as Core was thrown out at the plate. Blackmon scored on a wild pitch giving the Cyclones a 1-0 lead.

ISU added another run in the bottom of the sixth. Martinez singled to center field. Freshman Julia Lindsay was put in run for Martinez. Lindsay advanced to second when Lauren Cathy reached on an error by Matador third baseman Veronica Lopez. Lindsay advanced to third and Cathy advanced to second on a Morgan LeCluyse sacrifice hit. Lindsay scored on a CSN error to give the Cyclones a 2-0 edge.

Cal State Northridge tied the game in the top of the seventh. Colleen Spencer reached on an error by Cathy. A Lopez doubled advanced Spencer to third. Sondra Milchicker singled to right field and advanced to second on the throw as Spencer scored. Sarah Farnworth's sacrifice fly to left field scored Lopez to tie the game, 2-2.

The Matadors attacked again scoring one run in the top of the ninth. Meaghan Finnerty was placed on second due to the international tie breaker rule. Finnerty advanced to third on a sacrifice hit by Spencer. Finnerty scored on an error by Cathy making it 3-2.

Iowa State answered back scoring one run in the bottom of the ninth. LeCluyse was placed on second and advanced to third on an error by Matador left fielder RyAnne Greene. Yoshizawa reached on an error by shortstop Amber Copeland as LeCluyse scored to make it a 3-3 ballgame.

Cal State Northridge pounded out four hits and scored five runs in the top of the tenth to give the Matadors a 8-3 lead.

The Cyclones rally in the bottom of the tenth came up short as ISU scored only one run. Blackmon was placed on second and advanced to third on a Browning sacrifice hit. Martinez doubled to left field to score Blackmon making it a 8-4 ballgame. Cathy flied out to end the inning.

Ogan had one hit and one RBI, while Blackmon, Yoshizawa and Amberly Lessenger each contributed a hit. Jen Bice worked the mound 9 2/3 innings allowing eight runs on seven hits while fanning four. Kristin Ferguson faced two batters.