California Baptist Advances to Winner's Bracket Final for First Time
May 18, 2009
DECATUR, Ala. - The No. 1 ranked team in the NAIA and top seed in the 29th Annual NAIA Softball National Championship, California Baptist University, tops No. 4 Point Loma Nazarene (Calif.) University 2-1. This marked the eighth meeting between these two Golden State Athletic Conference foes, with California Baptist now winning six of the eight meetings.
California Baptist scored first with single runs in the bottom of the third and fourth innings to take a 2-0 lead. Sarah Strong hit a homer for her one hit and RBI in the game, while Briana Corral added a hit and RBI as well. Point Loma Nazarene scored a run in the top of the seventh inning on a solo homer by Alexandra Wilkenson. However, the rally fell short as California Baptist entered the winner's bracket final for the first time in school history.
Tory Ferreira (23-0) remained perfect on the season with a complete game six hitter, allowing just the one run with two strikeouts. Melissa Gomez (20-4) took the loss, allowing the two runs on four hits in six innings.
California Baptist advances to face the Dickinson State (N.D.)/St. Gregory's (Okla.) winner on Tuesday at 12:30 p.m. Point Loma Nazarene drops to the loser's bracket to face Oklahoma City at 6:00 p.m. on Monday.
-NAIA-
