The Park University Gilbert softball team took the momentum of Friday nights seventh inning comeback win into today's double header with Benedictine Mesa (1-7, 1-3) Cal Pac) and swept the Redhawks 12-4 and 6-0 to win their first ever Cal Pac series and open their season 3-1 at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz.
"It's always great to get two wins," said Buccaneers head coach Karin Gadberry. "It all starts in the pitcher's circle. Jessica walked out there and had a fantastic first game and Gabby followed it up with a shutout."
In game one, the Buccaneers (3-1, 3-1 Cal Pac) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first as the first five Bucs reached base safely. Amber Saiz singled to center followed by bunt singles by Nadia Gutierrez and Destinee Alvarez to load the bases. Catcher Raylissa Garcia singled to left to score Saiz. Then Courtney Beckwith singled to center to score Gutierrez. After a fielder's choice, first baseman Alleggra Poetter walked to bring in the third run of the inning.
After Benedictine came back with two runs in the bottom of the first, Park Gilbert had an answer with three more in the second. Saiz singled and stole second, Alvarez singled to score Saiz. After a Redhawk error, Beckwith doubled to the right center gap to score Alvarez and Garcia to make the score 6-2. That hit gave the Bucs all the runs they would need.
Starting pitcher Jessica Mendoza who threw four innings of scoreless relief in yesterday's opener, tossed a complete game today, allowing only three earned runs, striking out four and setting down 12 of the final 13 Redhawk batters to close out the game.
The Buccaneers added two more in the fourth on an Alvarez double to score Saiz and a dropped pop up. Then in the fifth, Michele Dinicola who came into the game as a sub, lifted a 2-2 fastball over the fence in right center field for her first home run of the year and the fifth career home run as a Buc.
Park Gilbert added three more in the seventh to finish out the scoring.
Alvarez went 5-5 for the game with two runs scored and four RBI. Alvarez tied the school mark for RBI in a game. Saiz went 3-5 with four runs scored. The four runs scored set a new Park Gilbert record. Dinicola was 2-3 with the home run, a double and two runs scored. As a team, the Bucs had 16 hits which tied a team record.
"Destinee played great all weekend," said Gadberry. "Third base is a hot box and to be able to play fantastic defense to anchor down third base and get after it hitting at the top of the lineup with her speed and ability to hit it out to the grass is phenomenal."
"Michele struggled out the gate." said Gadberry, who pulled Dinicola during game one. "and then when it came back around, she was ready to go, and she took advantage of every pitch they threw up there."
Game two found redemption for Park Gilbert starting pitcher Gabby Vallee. Friday night saw her uncharacteristically give up six runs in the second inning before being lifted in the Buccaneers 6-0 loss. This afternoon, the pitcher Bucs fans have grown to know showed up and dominated. The first two Benedictine batters reached on singles, but after that, Vallee only allowed one more runner on a walk the remainder of the game, retiring 20 of the final 21 Redhawk batters. Vallee struck out four and only allowed one ball to leave the infield after the first. The shutout was the second in Buccaneer's history.
At the plate, Dinicola got things going for the Bucs in the second with a lead-off home run to left for her second home run on the day and sixth in her career. This opened the flood gates, as the Bucs tacked on three more runs in the third on a Garcia RBI single, a Tayler Gallegos walk and a Danae Villarreal sacrifice fly. In the fifth a Villarreal RBI single and a passed ball brought home the final two runs.
For the game, Gutierrez was 2-3 with a run scored, Dinicola reached base three times, the homer, plus two walks. Garcia who caught and played every inning for the Bucs all weekend scored and drove in a run. The Bucs were helped by eight Redhawk walks, plus two hit batters.
As a pitching staff for the weekend, the Buc hurlers only walked three batters while striking out 11 while posting a 1.26 WHIP.
Unfortunately for Buccaneers, their next game is not for another month. The next scheduled four-game series as of this writing is Friday and Saturday, April 16-17 at Saint Katherine. That will be the start of 12 games in 12 days to close out the conference season.
