Toros End Schutt Lead Off Softball Classic With Split, Besting Tarleton State Before Falling to Texas A&M Kingsville
February 17, 2007

Phoenix, AZ – Cal State Dominguez Hills scored early and often in taking an 11-9 win over Tarleton State University in its early game, before suffering a 12-0 blanking at the hands of Texas A&M Kingsville in the nightcap, falling to 10-6 on the year after posting a 4-2 record at the tournament.

In the high-scoring opener, the Toros got on the board with three in the 1st, only to have Tarleton State answer with seven in the top of the 2nd. Not to be outdone, however, CSUDH answered with six in their 3rd inning at-bat to take the lead for good.

In the frame, a TexAnn error gave the Toros an extra out to begin the inning, and the Toros capitalized as they sent 11 batters to the plate, getting RBIs from Jennifer Martinez (La Habra, CA/CSULB), Bri Mahr (Fullerton, CA/Cypress CC) and Katie Jordan (Huntington Beach, CA/Marina HS) to take a 9-7 lead. Two innings later, Jodi Nakawatase (Long Beach, CA/Millikan HS) gave CSUDH insurance runs as she blasted her first home run of the season after Araceli Martinez (Downey, CA/Warren HS) walked with one out.

Tarleton State added two runs in the 6th on RBI singles by Brooke LaRue and Nicole Cone, but it would be too little too late as relief pitcher Michelle Medina (Lakewood, CA/St. Joseph HS) shut the TexAnns down in order in the 7th to pick up the first save of her college career.

Offensively, Jennifer Frazier (Buena Park, CA/John F. Kennedy HS) and Jessica Marlow (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison HS) paced CSUDH with two hits apiece, while Nakawatase’s one hit accounted for her team-high 2RBI.

In the circle, Toro starter J. Martinez hurled 6 innings, allowing all 9 Tarleton State runs.

Later that afternoon, however, the Toros had little luck against Texas A&M Kingsville as the Javelina offense connected for two home runs while TAMUK pitcher Nora Aguilar tossed a one-hitter as Texas A&M Kingsville picked up an easy 12-0 win.

The Toros road doesn’t get much easier as they travel to Arcata next weekend to take on 4th-ranked Humboldt State for a four-game set, before returning home to battle UC San Diego on Saturday, March 3.