May 15, 2009

Courtesy of Dixie State Athletics

ST. GEORGE, Utah – Jennifer Arnold's three-run home run in the fifth inning was the key blow as California State-Stanislaus defeated Dixie State 5-1 in the NCAA Division II West Super Regional on Friday.

Arnold had not gotten the ball out of the infield in her two previous at-bats. But, she said,

"you can't carry your other at-bats with you. I had to clear my mind. One of my teammates said, 'shake it off.' I told her I had. She said, 'no, physically, shake it off. So I did.

"It was a drop ball and that's my favorite pitch," Arnold continued. "I didn't hit it very well."

Still, the ball cleared the fence. The Warriors finished with nine hits. Britney Borba and Ashlee Genseal each had two. Seven of the nine batters had hits.

"Today we were fortunate," said Warrior coach Jan Schefkowitz. "We got production from everybody in the lineup."

The Warriors (35-19) led just 1-0 before Arnold's two-out blast. They had scored their first run in the second inning when Kimiko Wright walked, stole second and Borba doubled. After Brittany Balanesi walked, Dixie State's Ashley McFarland threw Borba out at the plate on a delayed double steal attempt. That was the final out of the inning. Jessica Gaumnitz and Dixie State's Lauren Folta battled pitch-for-pitch over the next two innings. Folta got into trouble in the fifth when Alyssa Guzman singled. Erica McIntyre and Meghan Franksen both hit into fielder's choice plays before Arnold homered to left field. Borba drove home the Warriors' fifth run in the sixth inning with a single. Nikky Rissetto had singled ahead of her and took second on a passed ball.

Dixie State (39-11) finally broke through in the sixth inning. Bailie Hicken opened the inning with an infield single. She stole second and advanced to third on Dabney McIntyre's single. Hicken scored on a throwing error on that hit. Following a popout, McIntyre was caught stealing. McFarland and Haley Schumers both walked before Gaumnitz struck out Kelsey Mendenhall to end the threat.

"After they scored their run, that made me more comfortable because there was no one on base. I wanted to start over from there."

In the seventh Arnold replaced Gaumnitz on the mound. She walked Breanna Egge to open the inning, then got the next three batters on infield grounders. The two teams will play again on Saturday with the first pitch scheduled at 11 a.m. MDT. Cal State-Stanislaus must win one game to earn a berth in the College World Series. Dixie State must win two in the best-of-three series.

"We obviously didn't play a good game today," said Dixie State coach Beth Collett, whose team managed just four hits. "You get opportunities. If you don't capitalize, you don't win."

The Red Storm threatened in the second, third, sixth and seventh but couldn't get the key hits.

"They had some luck," Collett said of the Warriors. "Their bloop hits fell in and ours didn't. Four of their nine hits were bloops." Collett said her team will have no trouble with motivation on Saturday. "When the World Series is on the line, we'll do better," she said.