Richardson homer helps Weber State softball take series at Sacramento State
-
- Weber State catcher Eva Richardson swats a home run against Sacramento State on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
-
- Weber State’s Jordan McMahon reaches to catch a fly ball against Sacramento State on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
-
- Weber State catcher Eva Richardson gestures back to the dugout as she approaches third during a home-run trot during a win at Sacramento State on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
-
- Weber State’s Olivia Birkinshaw, left, ranges under a fly ball during a game against Sacramento State on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
-
- Weber State’s Abby Grundy (1) celebrates her hit against Sacramento State on Saturday, April 19, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
-
- Weber State pitcher Cali McCraw rears back to throw to first base against Sacramento State on Friday, April 18, 2025, in Sacramento, Calif.
Weber State softball won an important road series at Sacramento State, splitting a Friday doubleheader and claiming the Saturday rubber match in the penultimate weekend of Big Sky Conference play.
The Wildcats (21-27, 7-5 Big Sky) and Hornets (22-20, 7-5) are now tied for second place while Idaho State’s high-scoring sweep of last-place Montana clinched the outright regular-season title for the Bengals (32-13, 11-1).
Weber State closes Big Sky play at home April 25-26 with three games against fourth-place Northern Colorado (14-27, 5-6). The Wildcats may need a three-game sweep to reach a coveted second-place finish and the associated tournament bye because Sacramento State finishes conference play against Montana (8-37, 1-11).
WEBER STATE 4, SAC STATE 3
Weber State fell behind but came through with middle-inning run support and held on for a win to open the series Friday.
Trailing 2-0, Weber knotted the game 2-2 in the fourth inning when Apollonia Maldonado sent a bouncer up the middle and, in a play charged an error to the shortstop, Emma Bingham and Sadie Kirk went around to score.
In the fifth, Kiaira Smith and Abby Grundy tallied one-out singles and set up Kirk for the game-winning swing, a two-RBI double down the left-field line.
Cali McCraw, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five, finished her complete-game win with a little help. Lafulafu Malepeai led off the bottom of the seventh with a single for Sacramento State but got caught in a pickle when Madison Evers-Lyles legged out an infield single.
Eliminating the lead runner mattered greatly when catcher Katie Marsh singled to score Evers-Lyles in the next at-bat. McCraw got the next batter to fly out to center field, ending the ballgame.
SAC STATE 4, WEBER STATE 1
WSU managed just four hits against Kennedie Magorian in Friday’s nightcap and the pitcher helped the Hornets even up the series in a complete-game effort.
Riley Whalen opened the game with a double for the Wildcats and Taegan Smith singled. With runners on second and third with no outs, WSU plated just one, on a Sadie Kirk groundout, and it was the team’s only run of the game.
Magorian struck out eight and walked one. Madison Evers-Lyles hit a solo homer in the fifth against Raina Navarro to give the Hornets the lead and Alexa Carino homered off Jayci Finch in the sixth to widen the gap.
WEBER STATE 6, SAC STATE 4
Eva Richardson socked a three-run homer to put Weber State ahead 6-0 through three innings and the Wildcats made it stand Saturday afternoon to take the series.
Abby Grundy preceded Richardson with an RBI double in the third. Jordan McMahon and Olivia Birkinshaw started the scoring in the second with a pair of RBI singles.
RJ Parra came through with clutch pitching in the second inning to preserve what was a 2-0 lead. After starting the frame with a foul-out, Parra hit a batter and allowed a single. With runners on second and third, she struck out Addy Buckley looking in three pitches, then walked Jenna Birch in four pitches to load the bases. Parra had the ultimate answer by striking out Lafulafu Malepeai to end the inning and keep the score 2-0.
Sac State got to Joslyn Veltien in the fifth when Madison Evers-Lyles led off with a solo homer. Jayci Finch entered the circle and took damage but pitched out of the rally with her team leading 6-4. Finch kept the Hornets from threatening more and struck out two in the seventh inning.
