Pittsburg State freshman Amanda DeCastro held the hot bat on Saturday as the Gorillas went 2-1 in the second day of the Zenner Memorial softball tournament at Joplin, Mo.
After falling 4-3 to Oklahoma City in their first game of the day, the Gorillas (11-7) knocked off Cameron (Okla.) 4-1 and Missouri S&T 4-3 in the final two games.
DeCastro belted a home run in the loss to Oklahoma City, then came back and got a double against Cameron and a pair of doubles in the win over Missouri S&T.
Against Cameron, the Aggies jumped out to a 1-0 lead but the Gorillas responded with a run in each of the second and third innings to take the lead for good.
DeCastro picked up a pair of RBIs in the top of the seventh with a double that scored Lori Lockhard and Maria Bernal to give the Gorillas the win.
In the late game against Missouri S&T, the Miners grabbed three runs in the top of the fourth but Pitt State cut the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Annie Thurber grounded out to score Cassie Martin from third.
The Gorillas were able to plate three runs in the bottom of the seventh after Bernal hit an RBI single to right and Lindsay Birchfield duplicated the effort in the next at-bat.
DeCastro capped her day with a game-winning RBI double to score Bernal and end the game with the win for the Gorillas.
An RBI triple by Mindy Crabaugh in the top of the eighth inning erased a 3-run home run by DeCastro and led Oklahoma City to a 4-3 win.
The Gorillas took time getting their offense started as they did not record their first hit until the third inning, down 1-0, when Lockhart led off with a single to center field.
In that inning, Melissa Slayden reached on a fielder’s choice, Cassie Martin singled and Bernal drew a walk but the Gorillas could not generate runs and left the bases loaded.
Oklahoma City scored a run apiece in the fifth and sixth innings before the bottom of the inning when DeCastro belted a three-run shot to right center, scoring Lindsay Birchfield, Bernal and DeCastro to tie the game 3-3.
With two outs in the top of the eighth, Crabaugh smacked a triple off Slayden to score Lily LaVelle and give Oklahoma City a 4-3 lead.
College softball
at Joplin, Mo.
Zenner Memorial Tournament
Game one
Oklahoma City 4, Pittsburg State 3, 8 inn.
Oklahoma City 001 011 01 — 4 9 0
Pittsburg State 000 003 00 — 3 7 0
Melissa Slayden and Lindsay Birchfield. Bianca Bryant, Ashley Wilburn (1) and Erin Slettvet. WP — Wilburn. LP — Slayden. LOB — OCU 6, PSU 9. 3B — Mindy Crabaugh. HR — Crabaugh, Wilburn; Amanda DeCastro.
Game two
Pittsburg State 4, Cameron 1
Pitt State 011 000 2 — 4 11 1
Cameron 100 000 0 — 1 4 1
Tiffany Swanson and Lindsay Birchfield. Giselle Guzman, Ashton McBride (1) and Callie Schlatter. WP — Swanson. LP — McBride. E — Birchfield; Megan Young. LOB — PSU 9, Cameron 8. 2B — Amanda DeCastro; Shareena Pulse. 3B — Amy Ribble.
Game three
Pittsburg State 4, Missouri S&T 3
Missouri S&T 000 300 0 — 3 9 2
Pittsburg State 000 010 3 — 4 7 0
Melissa Slayden and Lindsey Birchfield. Ashley Wallingford, Jen O’Hara and Coley Naughton. WP — Slayden. LP — O’Hara. E — Maggie Schroeder 2 LOB — MST 6, PSU 9. 2B — Emily Tucker, Becky Davis, Naughton; Amanda DeCastro 2. 3B — Katie Smith.
