Published 2008-03-30T00:00:00Z”/>

Nick Cahill

March 30, 2008The softball team’s offensive struggles continued Saturday with the Wildcats getting shut out in consecutive games at the Tournament of Champions in Turlock.

The Wildcats faced 13th ranked Seattle University and netted only two hits. Erin Martin pitched a gem for Seattle University, going seven innings and striking out five.

The Redhawks scored one run in the first inning and it was all they would need. Chico State sent just one more batter than the minimum to the plate and never mounted any serious scoring opportunities.

Seattle University put the game away with four runs in the 4th inning and defeated the Wildcats 5-0.

In the second game the Wildcats faced Central Washington and the result was much the same.

Central Washington’s Linse Vlahovich gave up just four hits and didn’t allow a run. Chico State struggled to find any momentum at the plate and no player had more than one hit.

The Wildcats made things even more difficult for themselves as they committed five errors. The sloppy defense and lack of offense plagued the ‘Cats as Central Washington won 7-0.

On the first day of the tournament, the ‘Cats split their games with Western Oregon and Western Washington.

Alison Smith singled in the winning run in the 6th inning to give the ‘Cats their lone victory in the tournament. Smith had a hit, an RBI and scored a run to lead Chico State offensively.

The Wildcats used three different pitchers to defeat Western Washington. Relief pitcher Laura Stokes got the victory for the ‘Cats, picking up her first win of the season.

The ‘Cats wasted a great performance from pitcher Krystal Shaw versus Western Oregon. Shaw gave up just two runs and pitched a complete game.

A lack of scoring continued to be the theme for the Wildcats as they scored just one run in a 2-1 loss. The ‘Cats were held to just five hits in the loss.

Nick Cahill can be reached at<a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a>