California State University at Northridge
36-10, 11-0
UC Riverside
32-14, 4-7
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Conley, Zoe (17-4)
L: Tayler Misfeldt (4-2)
Batting:
2B: Jenna Curtan 1
HR: Natalie Sanchez 1 ; Chelsey Holley 1
RBI: Natalie Sanchez 2 ; Taylor Wright 1 ; Chelsey Holley 3
SH: Jenna Curtan 1 ; Kris DeAnda 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Jenna Curtan 1 ; Natalie Sanchez 1 ; Rebecca Faulkner 1 ; Kris DeAnda 1 ; Taylor Wright 1 ; Chelsey Holley 1
Batting:
3B: Pofek, Daphne 1
RBI: Horne, Cortney 1 ; Hooper, Katie 1 ; Horvath, Savannah 2 ; Mitchell, Maylynn 2 ; Pofek, Daphne 2
SH: Toerner, Kaitlin 1
SF: Horne, Cortney 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Sherman, Carissa 1 ; Glover, Taylor 1 ; Hooper, Katie 1 ; Horvath, Savannah 1 ; Nate, Taylor 1 ; Kliebenstein, Tara 2 ; Mitchell, Maylynn 1 ; Ricks, Aliyah 1 ; Toerner, Kaitlin 1
SB: Sherman, Carissa 1 ; Glover, Taylor 1 ; Horvath, Savannah 1
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
CSUN Wins Twice over UC Riverside in Big West Action
4/18/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. --- The CSUN softball team (36-10, 11-0 Big West) defeated UC Riverside 1-0 and 10-6 Saturday afternoon in a Big West Conference doubleheader at Matador Diamond. Tara Kliebenstein belted her first career home run to lift CSUN to the game one win while Zoe Conley tossed 11 innings of shutout softball to help the Matadors maintain an unblemished league record.Â
"It is fun to see this team compete no matter the situation. We saw all three aspects of our game come together today," CSUN assistant coach Caitlin Benyi said. "It is exciting to see Tara's offensive game come back around to form. It is huge for this team that we can put people in big situations and they produce, whether it was Daphne Pofek's triple or Cortney Horne's sac fly." Â
Game One Recap
Game one was a pitcher's duel featuring two of the Big West Conference's best hurlers. Conley (16-4) finished with five strikeouts and posted her seventh shutout of the season. Her counterpart, UC Riverside's Chelsea Ponce, allowed just five hits and four strikeouts in six innings.Â
However, two of those hits came off the bat of Kliebenstein. After CSUN squandered her lead-off double in the third, Kliebenstein hit her first career home run in the bottom of the fifth to lift CSUN to the 1-0 victory. The double was her first career extra-base hit.Â
In the third, CSUN put runners on second and third with no outs but could not produce a run. Taylor Glover, Taylor Nate and Maylynn Mitchell each had base hits for the Matadors.Â
The Highlanders left six runners on base against Conley, including a pair in the second inning.Â
Game Two Recap
While game one was dominated by the pitchers, the second game saw both teams explode for several timely hits in a 10-6 Matador victory.Â
In the top of the first, Natalie Sanchez hit a two-run home run off CSUN starter Brianna Elder. The Matadors responded with six runs of their own in the bottom half of the frame.Â
Carissa Sherman singled to start the first and then stole second. She moved to third when Glover reached on a fielding error. After Glover stole second and Katie Hooper drew a walk to load the bases, Savannah Horvath singled down the right-field line to tie the game.Â
Horvath stole second and Nate drew a walk to load the bases again. With one out, Kliebenstein's ground ball to Ponce resulted in a throwing error that allowed two Matadors to score. She and Nate would then score on a two-run single from Mitchell.Â
Trailing 6-2 in the top of the fourth, UC Riverside scored four times to chase Elder from the circle and tie the game. Chelsea Holley hit a three-run home run to force Conley into the game for CSUN. She would record the third out of the inning with the go-ahead run at third base.
CSUN responded immediately, pushing across a run in the bottom of the fourth. Hooper picked up her 49th RBI of the season with a two-out single that scored Aliyah Ricks and gave the Matadors the lead for good.Â
In the fifth, CSUN added three insurance runs. Daphne Pofek laced a pinch-hit, two-run triple down the right field line to score Mitchell and Kliebenstein. Kaitlin Toerner would then run for Pofek and score on a sacrifice fly from Cortney Horne.
In the top of the seventh, the first two Highlander batters reached base safely. However, Conley got a double play as Nate and Mitchell teamed up after a fly-out to cut down a runner at third base.Â
Conley (17-4) tossed the final 4.0 innings and worked around four hits and three walks. Tayler Misfeldt took the loss for UC Riverside.Â
Game Notes
- Taylor Glover had two stolen bases on the day to give her 26 for the season, the most stolen bases at CSUN since 1990.Â
- Daphne Pofek's triple was the first of her career and the Matadors' 16th of the season, the most by a CSUN team since the 1994 team also had 16.Â
- The Matadors recorded five stolen bases in the two games, giving them a program Division I record 75 for the season.
- Katie Hooper's 49 RBIs are the third-most in school history for a single season.Â