Freshmen Fuel Bears, Hold On In Extra Innings

Coach Diane Ninemire must have been doubting her decision to relieve sophomore Marissa Drewrey with freshman Valerie Arioto after Arioto surrendered four runs in the bottom of the fifth to dig her team a three run hole.

But Arioto would not surrender a run after that point and the Cal softball rallied from behind her, eventually winning its contest Wednesday against Santa Clara 7-5 in eight innings.

"I struggled at first, but I found my rhythm after a little bit," Arioto said. "It wasn't the prettiest win, but we battled back and won. A win's a win."

The Bears got another huge game from freshman Sanoe Kekahuna, who doubled and scored in the sixth inning before notching an RBI single in the seventh to keep Cal's hopes alive. Kekahuna then came around to score the game-tying run off sophomore Brittany LaRosa's two out single.

After the Bears scored two more runs off bases loaded walks, Arioto registered a one, two, three inning to end the game and give her team a hard-earned road win.

"We were putting the ball in play all day and we were able to get timely hits," senior catcher Julie Meyer said.

Cal (7-5) came into the game winning three out of its last four but for a while, it seemed like the Bears would slip back into the losing habits they formed earlier in the season.

Arioto in particular has had an up-and-down season in the circle.

In her first performance against San Diego State, she was pulled after allowing four runs in an inning and a third. In her second outing, she looked like a different pitcher, tossing a complete game, one-hitter against Western Michigan.

This time around, it was a rocky start to say the least.

Arioto came in with two runners on and one out and proceeded to hit her first batter to load the bases. She followed that by committing an error to allow two runs to come around.

But Arioto settled down and manuevered her way out of jams in the next two innings. Her teammates made things difficult for her, committing three errors in the field, but Arioto got the outs when she needed and the Broncos (0-11) stranded two runners in both the sixth and seventh.

Cal lost its last extra inning contest on Feb. 10th against Mississippi State by a score of 4-1, but the Bears would have a different fate in Wednesday's game. Against the Bulldogs, Drewrey pitched from start to finish but was burnt out by the eighth and Mississippi State took advantage.

"I don't think any of us had that in the back of our minds," Meyer said. "But today was an extremely big win."

Against Santa Clara, Drewrey started Cal off on the right foot with six strikeouts through five and a third innings. But after sustaining a mild injury this past weekend, she may not have had much more in the tank.

Now, Drewrey should be able to pitch comfortably against Cal Poly on Friday at the Mustang Classic.

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