The UCSB softball team was unable to overcome San Jose State (12-12) on Friday afternoon, falling 3-1, on the opening day of the Santa Clara Bronco Classic at the San Jose State Spartan Softball Stadium.
UCSB (7-16) struck first at the top of the fourth inning. With two outs, Kathryn Pilpil hit a single to right field. Keilani Jennings followed with a double to left field, sending Pilpil home to give the Gauchos a 1-0 lead.
UCSB’s edge was short lived though. At the bottom of the same inning, Jessica Garcia led off with a base hit to right field. Two outs later, Breanna Lopez blasted a double to left field, scoring pinch runner Lauren Shanks. Alex Stange then reached base on balls before Amanda Schatz hit the second Spartan double of the inning to drive in two more runs.
The Gaucho coaching staff decided to bring in Shelby Wisdom to relieve Andriana Collins in the circle and the freshman struck out Sadie Coenen to end the inning.
Wisdom tossed 2.1 innings of shutout relief, but the Gaucho offense wasn’t able to come back from its deficit. UCSB had three more hits during the final three innings, but was unable to bring home any of its runners.
Eight different players tallied a hit for UCSB as the Gauchos outhit the Spartans, 8-5 in the loss.
Collins (3-9) suffered the loss after tossing 3.2 innings and allowing three earned runs on four hits. She walked two and struck out two. Wisdom allowed just one hit and one walk while striking out four.
