HONOLULU, Hawai'i. —
Tabby Heinz came through with a key pinch-hit in the fourth inning as North Dakota State University defeated Cal 4-2 on Saturday, March 12, in the first game of the University of Hawai'i Outrigger Spring Fling at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium. The Bison lost to host Hawai'i 7-6 in nine innings
NDSU (14-11), which went 3-3 in Hawai'i, is scheduled to play Binghamton University at 1:15 p.m. Friday, March 18, in the opening game of the Maryland Invitational at College Park.
North Dakota State opened the scoring against Cal in the bottom of the first when
Cheyenne Garcia doubled to right center with one out to score
Katie Shoultz.
Cal (11-10) answered in the top of the second. Kylie Reed singled with two outs to send Octavia Bond across the plate. Jazmyn Jackson led the Golden Bears with two hits.
NDSU rallied with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to build a 4-1 advantage. Five singles including four with two outs sparked the Bison.
Maritza Lopez-Portillo singled through the left side to score
Zoe Stavrou. Pinch-hitter
Tabby Heinz connected for a two-run base hit to right center to send
Alyssa Reina and
Courtney Johnson home.
Cal cut the deficit to 4-2 in the top of the sixth on Annie Aldrete's home run to center. The Golden Bears threatened with runners at first and second in the top of the seventh but an infield pop out ended the threat.
Jacquelyn Sertic (10-4) went the distance to record the win for NDSU. Sertic scattered five hits, walked four and struck out one.
Kourtney Shaw (4-2) and Nisa Ontiveros pitched for Cal with Shaw picking up the loss. The pair combined to strike out six, allow six hits and issue no walks.
North Dakota State built a 5-0 lead in the third inning against Hawai'i (13-14) in the nightcap. Stavrou singled home Garcia for the first run. Then Lopez-Portillo launched a grand slam, her second of the season for the Bison. Lopez-Portillo leads the Bison with four home runs. Garcia and Stavrou both had two hits.
However, the Rainbow Wahine their way back into the contest. A pair of bases-loaded walks pushed across two runs, while Ulu Matagiese's ground out produced another run to cut the deficit to 5-3.
Kanan Aina Cabrale's RBI double to left center closed the gap to 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth, while Breanna Ojala's run-scoring double to right center tied the game with two outs in the seventh.
The teams were scoreless after eight innings.
Jenna Isbel scored on an error to put NDSU ahead 6-5 briefly in the top of the ninth.
Hawai'i tied the game on Matagiese's single in the bottom of the ninth and won the game with Rachael Turner's two-out single. Nicole Lopez went 3-for-3 with an RBI to spark the Rainbow Wahine, while Keiki Carlos and Turner each finished with two hits.
Katilyn "KK" Leddy and Sertic (10-5) pitched for the Bison with Sertic picking up the loss in relief. The pair combined to strike out six and walk five.
Jenni Iseri and Aina Cabrales worked on the mound for Hawai'i. Aina Cabrales earned the win after allowing three hits, striking out two and walking one over the final six innings.
