ROCKLIN, Calif. – The Warriors softball team (15-25, 8-14) and fans bid farewell to its graduating class on Saturday under a bright blue sky dotted with white puffs of cloud just before taking on Menlo College (28-17, 15-7) in Jessup's final games of the 2016 regular season.
GAME 1
The Warrior softball team got off to a rocky start Saturday opening up the day's doubleheader with an 11-0 loss. The Oaks out of Atherton, California scored a run in each of the top of the first and second innings. Their biggest production then came in the third where they scored eight runs capped off by a grand slam. A final run in the fifth set in place their 11-0 victory over the Warriors.
Although they failed to plate a run in the contest the Warrior offense was not silent during the game. Jessup would leave eight runners stranded during the course of the match with senior Delany Slater (Folsom, CA) leading the team offensively recording two hits in three appearances.
Jessica Myers (Modesto, CA) was credited the loss in the game pitching 2.1 innings allowing eight runs and striking out two. The win went to Menlo's Jessie Salsbury who pitched three innings allowing two hits.
GAME 2
Game two displayed a much better result for the Warriors than game one but the scoreboard would still tilt toward the Oaks at the end of seven innings, 5-3.
The game's score would remain tied through the fifth inning before Menlo hit a 2 RBI single in the top of the sixth. The Warriors countered immediately. In the bottom of the sixth,
Kyla Cisneros (Visalia, CA) sailed a two-RBI home run over the centerfield fence to level the game.
Menlo took the liberty of imitating Jessup's strategy in the game's seventh and final inning, hitting their own two-run home run, before plating their fifth run on a Jessup error.
The Warriors mounted a comeback in the bottom of the seventh with
Kaylee Surrell (Stockton, CA) plating a run off a Menlo error but the run, Jessup's third, would be their final of the game.
The loss went to William Jessup University's
Shelbi Graifman (Antioch, CA) who pitched seven innings allowing five runs on seven hits while striking out seven. The win was credited to Menlo's Jordan Kennedy who pitched 5.1 innings allowing two runs on five hits and striking out one.
The Warrior home crowd was forced to say goodbye to its senior class on Saturday including Myers, Slater, and
Riley Williams (Orangevale, CA). The years of experience and the quality of leadership these three seniors displayed will, no doubt, be missed.
William Jessup University's season is not yet over, however. The Warriors will be headed to the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships to be held at Menlo College next weekend. Tournament brackets have not yet been created but check back in with jessupathletics.com for updated tournament information.
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William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook), @WJUSports (Twitter), and @JessupAthletics (Instagram, and Snapchat).
