Cal Splits First Day Of Littlewood Classic
TEMPE, Ariz. – California softball split the first day at the Littlewood Classic, picking up a 3-1 win over Illinois State before falling to Portland State, 7-1, on Friday at Farrington Stadium.
Sona Halajian led the Bears (5-2) both at the plate and in the circle, going 3-for-6 on the day with a home run and earning the win by tossing a complete game against Illinois State.
Game 1 – Cal 3, Illinois State 1
The Bears got on the board early, pushing across a run in the top half of the first. Acacia Anders got on base by drawing a 1-out walk, advanced to third on a Makena Smith single and touched the plate on a wild pitch to make it 1-0.
Halajian (3-0) had a strong morning in the circle, throwing a complete game while allowing just one unearned run on four hits with seven strikeouts. The only Redbird run came in the fifth on one error and one hit.
Cal was able to add insurance in both the third and fifth innings. The Bears recorded four singles in the third with Anders scoring after hits from Alexis Bishop and an Halajian RBI single.
Anders scored for the third time in as many times on base after reaching on an error, advancing to second on the throw and scoring on a Smith sacrifice fly after reaching third base on a passed ball. Six Bears recorded a hit apiece in the game.
Game 2 – Cal 1, Portland State 7
The Bears struggled to string hits together and committed untimely errors that led to Viking runs. Halajian crushed her first home run of the season in the seventh inning, a moonshot to dead center field.
Cal had a chance to get on the board early in the game when Tatum Anzaldo doubled to left center leading off the first, but she was stranded at third after a groundout and two strikeouts.
UP NEXT
Cal returns to Farrington Stadium for a rematch against Portland State with first pitch scheduled for 10:30 a.m. PT on Saturday, Feb. 19.
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