Sonoma State ousted in conference softball tournament

Sonoma State’s conference tournament run is over following Friday’s 5-1 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills in Southern California.

In a win-or-go-home elimination game in the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament in Carson, neither team was letting anything go easily. The winner would move on play Chico State in Saturday’s final slate of games and would need to beat them twice.

In the bottom of the second inning, the Toros had a runner on second with one out in the so-far-scoreless game. Nayah Pola singled to left field, sending runner Rianna De La Barcena flying around third and heading home.

Seawolves left fielder Rylee Nishimoto collected the ball and fired a perfect strike to catcher Jordyn Martinez, who had plenty of time to tag De La Barcena out.

As if that wasn’t enough, the next play saw CCAA Player of the Year Anna Zoia-Buescher made a diving catch in right field to end the Toros’ threat.

Dominguez Hills would get a run in the third, however, on a solo home run to break the scoreless deadlock. Yet it was the fifth inning where things would unravel for Sonoma.

The Toros scored four runs on three hits in the frame, as Raquel Jaime and Alani Nguyen both hit two-run singles. The Seawolves suddenly found themselves down 5-0.

Sonoma would get a run back in the top of the sixth, as Zoia-Buescher took advantage of a bad throw to speed home.

The Seawolves will now turn their attention to Sunday, when the 64-team field will be announced for the NCAA Division II tournament. Regional play starts next weekend, and Sonoma is currently ranked No. 2 in the West region.

You can reach Staff Writer Kienan O’Doherty at 415-887-8650 or kienan.odoherty@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @kodoherty22.