With a walk-off in extra innings, the Park University Gilbert softball team salvaged a doubleheader against crosstown rival, Benedictine Mesa. They were shutout in game one, 4-0, and won game two, 5-4.
Game 1- Benedictine Mesa 4, Park Gilbert 0
The Buccaneers had multiple opportunities to avoid a shutout in game one, but timely hitting was not on their side. On three occasions, they put at least one runner in scoring position; their best opportunity was in the second inning when Anissa Corrales and Nadia Gutierrez were both in scoring position, but a strikeout killed the inning.
In all, the Buccaneers registered just seven hits. To add injury to insult, Gutierrez was removed from the game after running the bases in the second inning. That forced head coach Karin Gadberry to shift around her infield, sending Zofia Corral to third and Destinee Alvarez to short.
That led to some iffy defensive decisions as the Redhawks bats heated up and tagged starter Jessica Mendoza for three earned runs in the third and fourth innings. She was pulled after 3.1 innings and Aubrey Bartlet was called upon to finish the game; she gave up one run and four hits.
Game 2- Park Gilbert 5, Benedictine Mesa 4 (9 Innings)
For the second time this season, Haley Basye walked it off for the Buccaneers with a single down the left field line to score Raylissa Garcia, who reached with a leadoff single.
It was an exciting way to end the game, but it was a game that probably should have ended in regulation. Going into the seventh inning, the Buccaneers held a 4-2 lead and starting pitcher Gabby Vallee was dealing- only allowing three hits to that point.
They began to build that lead with one run in the fourth inning- a bunt single by Anissa Corrales to score Abril Nerey. Nerey singled again to leadoff the fourth and advanced on another Corrales hit. Then, Corrales scored when her and Courtney Beckwith pulled off a double steal and Beckwith came around on a hit by Destinee Alvarez.
With a chance to square things away in the seventh, the Buccaneers committed one of their four errors on the day which allowed the Redhawks' Natasha Lawrence to come all the way home and cut the lead to one.
The Redhawks tied it up before Jessica Mendoza to get them out of the inning. She went the rest of the way, picking up her fourth win of the season.
Corrales, who had been in a bit of a hitting slump, broke out of it today with a 3-4, one run, one RBI performance. Nerey finished 2-4 with two runs and Alvarez rounded out the Bucs' multi-hitters with a 2-5 outing.
What's Next: The Buccaneers look to win the series with Benedictine Mesa with a doubleheader tomorrow (11 a.m.) at Cactus Yards in Gilbert, Ariz.
