Softball Takes One of Three

Women lose first two, bounce back for a win in the third

Claire McLoughlinTHE SANTA CLARAApril 23, 2015 

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]oftball traveled south to take on the University of San Diego in a three-game series. The Broncos lost the first two games but held on to win the third, 5-4.

Senior Jordan Newell said that Saturday’s losses to the Toreros contributed to the Broncos’ grit on Sunday. Santa Clara only managed one run in both Saturday games so for Sunday, something had to change.

“We were definitely fired up after our Saturday games,” Newell said. “We didn’t play our best ball, and we knew USD was a very beatable team. We showed up Sunday with a chip on our shoulder and competed.”

San Diego came out strong in the first matchup of the Saturday morning doubleheader, scoring four runs in the third inning. The Broncos did their best to combat the Toreros’ killer offense, but were unable to convert and remained scoreless throughout the game.

USD added one more run in the fifth inning and finished the game 5-0 over Santa Clara. With a second game slotted later that afternoon, the Broncos regrouped and looked to improve their offense.

The Toreros came out swinging and put runs on the board in every inning. The Broncos, down two in the third, answered with a home run from Newell, but were unable to hold off a slew of Torero hits in the bottom of the inning.

San Diego responded with five more runs of their own in the third inning and added an additional two runs in the bottom of the fourth to make the final 9-1.

Determined to turn things around, the Broncos returned Sunday afternoon. Right away, they made their presence known at the USD Softball Complex.

Sophomore Geenamarie Bonilla led the way for the Broncos’ offense with a run in the first inning. The Toreros picked up three runs of their own shortly after Bonilla’s, but Santa Clara silenced USD fans by scoring four runs in the second.

The Broncos held on for the rest of the game, weathered a single run late in the sixth inning and came away with a 5-4 victory. 

Newell concluded that the team will continue to see success if they get a better handle on their offense.

“We could improve upon scoring early and holding our lead,” she said. “We need to shut the door on the other team once we get ahead. If we keep up the great energy we’ve been having, we’ll definitely get some more wins.”

Contact Claire McLoughlin at camcloughlin@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.