SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Sacramento State overcame a late deficit, and freshman
Katie Marsh tied a program record with four hits as the Hornets defeated Santa Clara, 12-6, in eight innings on the final day of the Silicon Valley Classic.
Sacramento State, which trailed, 6-3 in the fifth inning, scored single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings, and broke out with six runs in the eighth. The Hornets conclude the three-day tournament with a 4-1 record, and Sacramento State had to overcome deficits in all four victories. In fact, the Hornets trailed in the fifth inning of three of those wins.
Sacramento State has now won five of its last seven games while improving to 7-7 overall this season. During the tournament, the Hornets defeated Santa Clara twice, UC Santa Barbara and Saint Mary's.
Marsh, a true freshman from Susanville, started at catcher today and finished 4-for-4 with two runs, a double, triple and two RBIs. It was her RBI-triple in the eighth inning that broke a 6-6 tie and proved to be the game-winning hit. That was part of an eighth inning that saw the Hornets account for six runs and five hits. Marsh,
Jada Walker,
Lewa Day,
Alexis Parish,
Rylee Gresham and
Nikki Barboza all had RBIs in the eighth.
Trailing, 6-5, in the seventh, the Hornets took advantage of three San Jose State errors to score an unearned run and force extra innings.
Marissa Bertuccio (3-3) was impressive in relief, allowing four hits and two runs over five innings while walking none and striking out three. During her final four innings, she allowed just one base runner, retiring 12 of the 13 batters she faced over that span.
Caroline Evans worked the first three innings.
Nine different Hornets collected hits, including multiple-hit games from Marsh, Day (2) and Parish (2). Walker had a game-best three RBIs, and she was one of eight Hornets to drive in a run.
Day had a huge tournament and will be a solid candidate for Big Sky Conference Player of the Week after finishing the tourney 10-for-19 (.526) with five runs, three doubles, a triple, homer and nine RBIs. She hit safely in all five games, and had multiple hits in four of them. Day also had at least one RBI in all five games.
Marsh hit .471 during the tournament, and
Gwen Ludwig hit .353.
Sacramento State is back at home next week when it hosts the
Capital Classic. The Hornets will host games on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and will play Sunday at UC Davis. Thursday's game will be against Siena at 3 p.m. at Shea Stadium.
