Even an error couldn’t stop the SF State Gators softball team.That’s how good their offense was over the weekend as they swept a doubleheader from the visiting Sonoma State Seawolves (16-36-1, 10-17 CCAA), 5-0 and 8-4.

The twin wins capped another stellar season on Senior Day, and now the team can look forward to the NCAA Division II West Regionals.

In the first game, the 20th-ranked Gators (36-18, 18-10 CCAA) broke the stalemate when freshman Jordanna Freemer hit a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning, making the score 1-0.

In the next inning, the Gators broke the game open with four runs when Freemer came up big with a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Freemer finished the first game of the doubleheader 3-for-3 with a home run, double, single, a stolen base and three runs batted in.

The Gators provided more than enough offense for pitcher Holly Pearce. Pearce pitched a gem en route to her fourth complete-game shutout of the season as she struck out two, walked three, gave up three hits and improved her record to 10-7 this season.

“Sonoma’s never been an easy team,” said Gator head coach Kristi Lansford. “I think sometimes it’s really easy to sit back and get complacent, which is what we did in the second game a little bit.”

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Gators jumped out to an early lead.

It was Freemer again who came out swinging as she drove the ball deep to left field for her second home run of the day. The two-run shot scored third baseman Nicole Hartfield, and was Freemer’s eighth home run of the year.

The Gators scored two more in the bottom of the second, making it 4-0 in what was beginning to look like a rout.

With staff ace Sonja Garnett, a 20-year-old liberal studies major, on the mound, it seemed four runs would be enough, but in the bottom of the sixth inning, momentum changed jerseys.

After a few hits by the Seawolves, senior shortstop Chrissy Hildebrandt, a 22-year-old liberal studies major, committed a two-out error, allowing the Seawolves a chance to get back into the game.

“I think I was being lazy,” said Hildebrandt. “I was doing fine the whole game and that one went through my legs, and it totally set the tone for them.”

Garnett was able to pitch herself out of trouble after the Seawolves scored four times and keep the game tied at four going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Garnett said errors are part of the game and she deals with them as the come.

“Errors happen, that’s why we score,” Garnett said. “We score enough runs to usually make up for that.”

The Gators took the lead back with a four-run sixth inning of their own, making the final score 8-4.
Junior catcher Mary Cunnie drove in Hartfield with a one-out single through the left side for the go-ahead run that sealed the Seawolves’ fate.

Garnett picked up the complete-game win for the Gators and improved to 25-7 this season while notching her 27th complete game of the season.

Lansford said the team lost its focus for a bit in the second game, which resulted in the four-run inning by the Seawolves, and credited the Seawolves for not giving up on the game.

For seniors Hildebrandt and Nichole Ramirez, it was the final regular season game of their college careers.

“It’s been an awesome trip,” Hildebrandt said. “This team is going to go nothing but up.

“There’s so much heart on this team and so much talent from the past years to now. I’ve made so many friends along the way. From my first year to my fourth year, these are your friends, and you’re going to have (them) for the rest of your life.”

The Gators now must prepare for the NCAA Division II West Regionals, which take place May 12-15 at a location to be decided.

Lansford said she is confident her team has what it takes to go all the way.

“We have a great team,” Lansford said. “I think if we can play consistently and we can play together, and if they can keep their composure and do everything right, we have as good of a shot as anybody else.

“It just depends on what the girls want, and how far they want to take it.”