SAN DIEGO, Calif. – After being held scoreless through five innings, Pac-12 member California pulled away in the sixth to defeat the Boston University softball team, 4-1, on Friday evening in the San Diego Classic opener at SDSU Softball Stadium.
With their eighth straight win, the Golden Bears improve to 14-3, while the Terriers drop to 5-9 with a 2-6 record against Power Five schools.
Junior
Lizzy Avery (3-5) battled Sona Halajian (8-0) in the pitchers' duel until Halajian broke open the game with her one-out homer. Cal later added a two-out, two-RBI double against junior
Allison Boaz for insurance. Sophomore and reigning Patriot League Player of the Week
Kayla Roncin led the offense by batting 2-of-3 with a double and run scored on senior
Nicole Amodio's seventh-inning RBI single.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Cal led off the first with a single and advanced the runner to second on a wild pitch with one out before Avery ended the threat with a line out and swinging strikeout against Halajian.
- The Golden Bears had a runner reach base each of the next four innings, but Avery and the defense kept them at bay, highlighted by a 1-6-3 double play in the second.
- Roncin broke up Halajian's no-hit bid in the fourth with a two-out single and took second on Amodio's walk before Cal earned a line out to left.
- The Golden Bears earned a pair of two-out singles in the fifth but also line out to left to keep the game scoreless entering the sixth.
- Cal scored four runs off four hits and three walks against Avery and Boaz in the sixth.
- Roncin started the seventh with a lead-off double to left center and eventually scored on Amodio's single up the middle, but the Terriers' rally was halted by a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.
GAME NOTES
- The game was delayed four hours by rain, so as a result, BU's scheduled game against San Diego State was postponed.
- Roncin increased her batting average to .395, while Amodio earned her team-leading 14 RBI.
- BU dropped to 0-3 all-time against Cal in the first meeting since the Golden Bears eliminated the Terriers in the 2012 NCAA Regionals as the national No. 1 seed.
UP NEXT
- BU will next visit UC San Diego on Saturday (March 5) with the first game against Utah State set for 2 p.m. ET.
- The Terriers will then face the host Tritons at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.