Turlock, CA -- The Toros used their momentum from yesterday's come-from-behind victory to take two games on day two of the Mizuno Tournament of Champions on Saturday afternoon, defeating Grand Canyon (6-2) and Central Washington (9-4) and improving to 19-17 on the year.
In the opener against Grand Canyon, CSUDH used an RBI single to the gap in left center by Bri Mahr (Fullerton, CA/Cypress JC) to score Jodi Nakawatase (Long Beach, CA/Millikan HS),who earned a one out walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
The 'Lopes answered in the top of the 3rd after a lead off double to left center by Jamie Stacy and a single to center by Syndey Reyes to bring home Stacy, and grab the lead in the 5th off Toro reliever Michelle Medina (Lakewood, CA/St. Joseph HS), using a single by Erica Ritter and a Toro miscue in the outfield allowing the 'Lopes runner from second to score.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the 6th, the Toro bats would come alive late for the second game in a row, scoring five runs on five hits and taking advantage of a 'Lope error.
Mayra Oliden (Los Angeles, CA/Cerritos JC) would be inserted into the line-up as a defensive replacement in the top of the 6th, and lead off the bottom of the 6th with a double to the gap in right center, after which Katie Jordan (Huntington, CA/Marina HS) and Nakawatase would follow with back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs.
After a force out at the plate to keep the bases loaded, Jennifer Martinez (La Habra, CA/Cal State Long Beach) laced an 0-1 offering to left field to bring home a pair of Toro runners to give CSUDH the lead at 3-2. Jennifer Frazier (Buena Park, CA/John F. Kennedy) then gave the Toros some breathing room with a 2 RBI single to right and CSUDH would tack on its fifth run of the inning off a 'Lopes fielding error.
Frazier led the offense with two hits and two RBIs while Martinez also drove in a pair of runs. Medina was credited with the win, tossing 3.0 inning of relief, allowing only one hit while striking out two batters.
In the second game of the day the Toros jumped all over Central Washington in the bottom of the 1st, pushing across four runs on three hits and one Wildcat error, adding another run one inning later on a Jordan RBI single that scored Oliden, who led off the inning with a double to left center.
After adding another run for a 6-0 lead, the Wildcats found their offense in the top of the 3rd to cut the Toro lead in half, scoring three runs on three hits and taking advantage of a Toro error, only to see CSUDH counter in the bottom of the inning with three more runs of their own, extending their lead to 9-3.
CW would add a single run in the top of the 5th, but Martinez would keep the Wildcat batters at bay for the remainder of the game.
Jordan went 3-for-4 in the lead off spot while Oliden went 2-for-3 in the nine hole.
Martinez picked up her 16th win of the year, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out four batters.
On the day Jordan was 4-for-7 with four runs scored and two RBI, while Martinez drove in four runs and Oliden picked up a pair of doubles and a stolen base.
The Toros will be in action tomorrow morning at 9:00 am when they take on Grand Canyon in a rematch of today's opener.
