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Box Score 2
Ellensburg, WA - The Simon Fraser University softball team wrapped up their road trip through Washington with a pair of losses to the Central Washington Wildcats.
The Clan lost game one 9-1 before leading most of the way through game two, only to fall 7-5.
"With a young team you're going to see Jekyll and Hyde at different times and I think we saw both today," said Head Coach Mike Renney. "I think we had poor performance in the first game and it's a combination of inexperienced pitching and a tight young defence. Central Washington came to play and they hit the ball and I give them full credit for a lopsided victory."
Jessica Fortier (Three Hills, AB) started in game one for SFU, going four and two thirds innings and giving up nine runs on nine hits.
Danielle Raison (Langley, BC) went two for three in the game for the Clan, picking up SFU's only run batted in while Kendra Goodman (Surrey, BC) scored that run.
Central jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first two innings before adding single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings.
The Clan scored in the top of the third when Goodman led off with a single, advanced to second on a Robyn Mogavero (Whitby, ON) single, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Raison's infield single.
"In game two we settled in. Much like we did yesterday, we played a much better game and I think we put a scare into a quality team, holding the lead for most of the game. Young teams find a way to give opponents a chance sometimes and we made far too many mistakes late. There were some routine plays that weren't made after we made some exceptional ones. We took ourselves out of it. If anything the outcome of the second game was more a product of our inability to manage a lead than it was the other team beating us up," continued Renney.
In game two, Jessica Goulet (Cambridge, ON) gave the Clan a strong start pitching six innings, allowing seven runs, only one of which were earned.
"Goulet gave us another solid outing and I think she's developed the confidence that she can keep us competitive in these conference games," said Renney.
Two Clan players had multi-hit games as Kaitlyn Cameron (Langley, BC) went two for three with an RBI and Rachel Proctor (Surrey, BC) went two for three with a run scored.
SFU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second and added two in the fifth while Central scored one in the fourth, three in the fifth and three in the sixth to pull ahead of the young Clan.
Cameron led off the second with a single but was thrown out at second as Nicole Ratel (Langley, BC) reached on a fielder's choice.
Ratel adavanced to second when Rachel Proctor (Surrey, BC) earned an infield single and Stefanie Sheard (Winnipeg, MB) did the same to load the bases.
Shelby McCannell (Lake Stevens, WA) then cashed the first three Clan runs when she was thrown out at second base, trying to turn a single into a double, but Proctor, Ratel and Sheard all scored on her hit.
With SFU leading 5-1 in the fifth inning, the Wildcats began their comeback scoring three runs on four hits and an error before pulling ahead in the sixth with three runs on three hits and two Clan errors.
Attempting to tie things in the top of the seventh, the Clan went down in order, settling for their second loss of the day.
"We're coming home with some new learnings and some growth opportunities. It's not easy and it's not fun to learn this way but hopefully the timeline will be excellerated by the opportunities and we can expedite our maturity as a team," finished Renney.
With the loss, the Clan's record drops to 0-4 in conference play.
The Clan will be back in action next Saturday when they start their home schedule at 5:00 p.m. at Beedie Field against the Western Oregon Wolves.
