Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Long Beach State
Wildcat softball wins extra-inning thriller
3/1/2015 8:07:00 AM | Softball
LAKEWOOD, Calif. – After winning a pitching duel to start the day, the Wildcats wrapped it up with a bruising slugfest.
Junior first baseman Krystin Kubo hit a two-run long ball over the fence at left field, lifting the Weber State University softball team to a thrilling 9-8 win over Long Beach State in nine innings to wrap up the second day of the Louisville Slugger Invitational, hosted by the 49ers, at Mayfair Park.
Kubo finished the game 4-for-5 at the plate with four RBI, while sophomore right fielder Sara Hingsberger was 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
Freshman right-hander Bailey Seek (2-1) earned the win in the circle, allowing just two hits and two unearned runs in 4 2/3 innings work, while junior right-hander Sierra Whitmer allowed just five hits and three runs with a pair of strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings.
Weber State came out charging, scoring four runs in the top of the first to take 4-0 lead as the Wildcats first four batters earned hits and the first six reached base to make a quick 3-0. Kubo had an RBI single after the first out that brought another running across to make it 4-0. The Purple and White had six of their 14 hits in the opening inning.
Long Beach State, which defeated No. 12 UCLA on Friday, answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning and then took a 5-4 lead in the fourth.
Kubo had an RBI single in the fifth, scoring freshman second baseman McKinley Brinkerhoff, to make it 5-5, with the 49ers regaining a 7-5 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
Junior shortstop Aubrey Whitmer hit an RBI double in the sixth to make it 7-6, and Hingsberger scored on a wild pitch to level things out at 7-7.
After neither team scored in the seventh, the game went into extra innings and international tiebreaker procedures, with the final batter of the previous inning placed on second base. Both Weber State and Long Beach State loaded the bases in the eighth, but a stellar defensive throw from Brinkerhoff to freshman catcher Molly Horne in the bottom sent things to the ninth, setting the stage for Kubo's heroics.
Weber State will wrap up the Invitational at 11 a.m. (10 a.m. Pacific) on Sunday against Stanford.
