HONOLULU, Hawaii – It was a relatively quiet day for Cal’s bats on the offensive side, but a stout defense and season-high six strikeouts for sophomore pitcher Stephanie Trzcinski helped secure a 3-0 shutout for the No. 19 Golden Bears against Longwood Friday afternoon in Hawaii.
Trzcinski struck out five through the first four innings, but Cal’s offense could not match her success at the plate, and both the Bears and Lancers remained scoreless through 3.5 innings.
It took a wild pitch at the bottom of the fourth for the Bears to finally break through. With two outs on the board, Kostreba singled to second base to put a runner on for freshman Kobie Pettis. She followed up with a single to right center, and advance to second on the throw to the infield while Kostreba headed to third. A wild pitch brought Kostreba across, and the Bears took a 1-0 lead.
Cal looked to have another strong shot of scoring with another two-out rally at the bottom of the fifth. Sophomore Kylie Reed singled to right center and then seniors Britt Vonk and Cheyenne Cordes drew back-to-back walks to load the bases, but a strikeout promptly ending the inning and kept the score 1-0.
Kostreba led the charge in the most explosive inning of the game in the Bears’ side of the sixth inning. She led off with a walk and was replaced with pinch runner Mary Lee. Lee advanced to third on a pair of ground outs before junior Vanessa Alvarez doubled to left field to plate her. A single to the pitcher by freshman Jazmyn Jackson brought Alvarez home, and Cal could finally get comfortable with a 3-0 lead entering the seventh inning.
Alvarez went 2-for-3 with one run and an RBI, and Jackson, Reed, Kostreba and Pettis also combined for Cal’s six hits. Trzcinski is a perfect 6-0 in the circle on her one-hit performance. She gave up just two walks.
The Bears improve to 15-1 on the season.
ON DECK
Next up at the Malihini Kipa Aloha Tournament is San Jose State, who the Bears will meet on Saturday at 3 p.m. PT
