SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- The LIU Brooklyn softball team extended their win streak to seven straight on Friday at the UCSB Gaucho Classic in Santa Barbara. The Blackbirds (10-6) shutout Bowling Green State, 1-0 to start the day, then closed it out with a 6-1 win over Cal-Santa Barbara, to stretch their streak to a third weekend.
LIU (10-6) is scheduled to play California, who has received votes in the NFCA National poll, in their first tilt on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. (ET), before the Blackbirds will face Pacific on later on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.
LIU 1, BOWLING GREEN 0
Blackbirds freshman pitcher Elena Valenzuela threw a two-hitter in the team's opening game of the Gauchos Classic, to lead the Blackbirds to a 1-0 win. Both starters were on top of their game, as each pitcher, Valenzuela (5-1) and BGSU's Meredith Miller (3-3) yielded only two hits, with each throwing a complete game.
Junior left fielder Katie Hinkle had LIU's first hit of the game in the top of the third frame and senior Amanda Domingo earned LIU's second hit in the fifth inning, but neither led to a significant rally.
In the sixth inning, senior Schae Dickson was hit in the arm by a pitch, then snuck into second on a wild pitch. Then on the next play, a grounder to third base, Dickson scored the only run on a throwing error, allowing LIU to take the lead.
Meanwhile on the mound, Valenzuela was sharp, she gave up a single in the first inning, then did not allow a hit until an infield single in the seventh frame. In earning her fourth consecutive win of the season, the California native struck out three Falcons in front of the largest LIU crowd of the young season.
LIU 6, UCSB 1
LIU turned to another native Californian for game two, and sophomore pitcher Victoria Lowe responded with her third consecutive win and second straight complete game, topping UCSB 6-1, in the first meeting between the two schools from opposite coasts. Lowe (3-3) gave up six hits and struck out one batter in her seven innings of work.
The Blackbirds got on the scoreboard in the top of the second with back-to-back infield hits by junior Katie Hinkle and freshman Camryn Lyman, with the latter scoring sophomore Kiana Cisneros from third base to take a brief 1-0 lead.
The Gauchos tied up the game at 1-1 on an unearned run in the bottom of the fourth, just before the Blackbirds opened up a big lead in the fifth inning. With the bases loaded, senior Schae Dickson sent a shot to left center to score all three runs, building a 4-1 lead with no outs, Then with Cisneros on second and Dickson on third base, sophomore Ryleigh Bermea slammed a shot off the centerfield fence to score both runs and put the game away, 6-1.
Gauchos starter Felisha Noriega (3-3), who went the first 4.2 innings, took the loss for the host team (4-10).