The College of San Mateo softball team defeated Cabrillo College in dramatic fashion Thursday afternoon, winning 7-6 in a thrilling extra-inning game.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, leadoff hitter Ashley Peterson hit a line drive that rolled to the wall in right field for a double. Sophomore Jacqueline Ferrari made her final at-bat count when she drove in the go-ahead run with a double to deep left-center field, capping an epic ballgame.
The magical afternoon ended as the CSM dugout stormed the field to congratulate Ferrari and celebrate the victory.
The game was filled with good defense early on. With two outs and the bases loaded in the top of the first inning, Cabrillo’s Rachel Gregory hit a flare out to right field but CSM’s Ashley Zmerzlikar fully extended and made a diving grab to end the inning.
CSM escaped another bases loaded situation in the top of the third inning. CSM pitcher Lauren Cole got some weak groundballs in the infield from Cabrillo, keeping the score tied at zero.
The lady Bulldogs struck first, scoring three runs in the bottom of the third inning. Peterson blasted a ball into the gap in left-center field driving in Gina Bologna for the first run of the game. Peterson was then driven in by freshman Meggan Craviotto on a double off the wall in left. The Bulldogs would tack on one more when Cole helped her cause, driving in the third and final run of the inning.
Cabrillo did not wait long to respond with some scoring of its own. The top of the order rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning, capped by two-run double off the wall in center field.
The Bulldogs scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead right back from Cabrillo.
In the top of the seventh inning, Cabrillo scored the game-tying run when their cleanup batter, Shauna Ruth, crossed the plate, capitalizing on CSM’s defensive miscues.
Ruth smashed in two runs in the top of the eighth inning when she hit a shot to the gap in right-center field. Cabrillo was up two runs with the middle of CSM’s line-up due to hit in the bottom of the inning.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Lauren Handy started the rally for the Lady Bulldogs with a single up the middle. With all of the pressure in the world resting on her shoulders, freshman catcher Tatianna Grelli stepped up to the plate. Grelli worked the count full before she unloaded on a fastball and sent a towering shot over the wall in left field.
Cole pitched a scoreless ninth inning, giving the Bulldogs yet another shot to seal the deal.
