University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Saturday, May 12
Ogden, Utah
9 am
University of Northern Colorado
28-26
0
vs
3
Sacramento State
31-18
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sacramento State | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Northern Colorado | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
Photo by: Robert Casey
Recap: @bearssoftball Falls to Sac St. to End the Big Sky Tournament
5/12/2018 8:47:00 PM | Softball
Northern Colorado is defeated in what would be the championship game
OGDEN, UT- It was a bitter ending to Northern Colorado softball's time at the Big Sky Tournament, as they fell to Sacramento State 3-0. The Hornets victory gave them the Big Sky Tournament title due to abbreviated schedule from the weather delays on Friday and Saturday.
Valerie Vidal started for the Bears in the circle against Sacramento State's Celina Matthias. The two faced each other twice when the two teams played in Greeley back in March.
UNC was threatening in the bottom of the first after Sophia Taylor singled to center field and Lauren Paige walked. Matthias got out of the jam and game remained scoreless.
The Hornets managed to had a runner on third in the top of the third inning, but Vidal avoided any damage with a ground out to end the inning.
Taylor doubled to center field in the bottom of the third for her second hit of the game, but UNC could not bring her into score.
In the top of the fourth, Sac St went up 1-0 on a solo home run from Big Sky Player of the Year Suzy Brookshire. The Hornets put another run on the board with an RBI single to left field in the top of the fifth and UNC was now down 2-0.
Emma Brockmann lead off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field and Kenzie Kudrna pinch ran for her with the team looking to cut the Hornets lead in half. Cheyenne Talmadge walked to put two on with one out and the Bears were threatening. Matthias was again able to keep UNC off the scoreboard with two ground outs to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, a Sac St double would score the team's third run and the Bears were in a 3-0 hole.
Matthias closed out the game, retiring the UNC hitters in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. Sac St held on for the 3-0 victory and the Big Sky Tournament Championship.
Matthias was the difference, going seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out four, while walking three.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On the game
"I thought we competed well throughout the game. We were able to get base runners on in several innings, but we weren't able to come up with the timely hit to score them. Overall, I thought we could have done a better job with our pitch selection also. Sacramento State's pitcher was able to get us chasing balls out of the zone and then we were watching strikes go by. We definitely could have done that better to help ourselves. Our defense was solid. They got a few hits that scored runs. I'm happy with the way we competed and I hope this is not the end of the season for us."
On the overall Tournament play
"I thought our mentality was our biggest asset throughout the tournament. We didn't come into any game in the tournament too anxious. We were out there to compete hard and we carried that throughout all of our games, which helped us. We just came up short in this last game. I'm confident moving into next season that we will build off this progress this season and the legacy that the seniors are leaving for this team in the future."
Tournament Honors
Northern Colorado had three players selected to the All-Tournament team, with Valerie Vidal, Kaley Garcia, and Madi Schmidt all being recognized for their play this weekend. The Most Valuable Player of the Tournament went to Sacramento State's Suzy Brookshire.
Notes
Up Next
The Bears will now await to see if their season will continue with the release of postseason tournament brackets tomorrow night.
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Valerie Vidal started for the Bears in the circle against Sacramento State's Celina Matthias. The two faced each other twice when the two teams played in Greeley back in March.
UNC was threatening in the bottom of the first after Sophia Taylor singled to center field and Lauren Paige walked. Matthias got out of the jam and game remained scoreless.
The Hornets managed to had a runner on third in the top of the third inning, but Vidal avoided any damage with a ground out to end the inning.
Taylor doubled to center field in the bottom of the third for her second hit of the game, but UNC could not bring her into score.
In the top of the fourth, Sac St went up 1-0 on a solo home run from Big Sky Player of the Year Suzy Brookshire. The Hornets put another run on the board with an RBI single to left field in the top of the fifth and UNC was now down 2-0.
Emma Brockmann lead off the bottom of the fifth with a single to right field and Kenzie Kudrna pinch ran for her with the team looking to cut the Hornets lead in half. Cheyenne Talmadge walked to put two on with one out and the Bears were threatening. Matthias was again able to keep UNC off the scoreboard with two ground outs to end the inning.
In the top of the sixth, a Sac St double would score the team's third run and the Bears were in a 3-0 hole.
Matthias closed out the game, retiring the UNC hitters in the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings. Sac St held on for the 3-0 victory and the Big Sky Tournament Championship.
Matthias was the difference, going seven innings, allowing four hits and striking out four, while walking three.
In their words
Shana Easley, Head Coach
On the game
"I thought we competed well throughout the game. We were able to get base runners on in several innings, but we weren't able to come up with the timely hit to score them. Overall, I thought we could have done a better job with our pitch selection also. Sacramento State's pitcher was able to get us chasing balls out of the zone and then we were watching strikes go by. We definitely could have done that better to help ourselves. Our defense was solid. They got a few hits that scored runs. I'm happy with the way we competed and I hope this is not the end of the season for us."
On the overall Tournament play
"I thought our mentality was our biggest asset throughout the tournament. We didn't come into any game in the tournament too anxious. We were out there to compete hard and we carried that throughout all of our games, which helped us. We just came up short in this last game. I'm confident moving into next season that we will build off this progress this season and the legacy that the seniors are leaving for this team in the future."
Tournament Honors
Northern Colorado had three players selected to the All-Tournament team, with Valerie Vidal, Kaley Garcia, and Madi Schmidt all being recognized for their play this weekend. The Most Valuable Player of the Tournament went to Sacramento State's Suzy Brookshire.
Notes
- Sophia Taylor recorded a hit in each of the Bears three games in the Big Sky Tournament, going four-for-nine (.444), with two RBIs, one triple, one double, and one run scored.
- Valerie Vidal had a 1-1 record, with two complete games in three starts during the tournament. She recorded a 3.38 ERA in 18.2 innings of work with 15 strikeouts to six walks.
- Kaley Garcia went three for 10 (.300), with one home run, two RBIs, two stolen bases, and two runs scored in the tournament.
- Madi Schmidt went three-for-nine (.333) with three RBIs, walking twice, and hitting one triple for the tournament.
Up Next
The Bears will now await to see if their season will continue with the release of postseason tournament brackets tomorrow night.
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Matthias, Celina (20-9)
L: Vidal, Valerie (18-11)
Batting:
2B: Spieth, Mo 1 ; Maligad, Marissa 1
HR: Brookshire, Suzy 1
RBI: Hinton, Zamari 1 ; Brookshire, Suzy 1 ; Spieth, Mo 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Brookshire, Suzy 2 ; Guzman, Charizma 1
HBP: Scott, Jessica 1
Batting:
2B: Taylor, Sophia 1
SH: Joyner, Natalie 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
0
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
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INF/P
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
UTL
/ SoftballINF
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P
/ SoftballWednesday, April 29
Tuesday, April 14
Wednesday, April 08
Tuesday, March 31
