Tulsa
Grand Canyon
No. 21 Softball Opens Season with a Pair of Wins
2/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Softball
Feb. 6, 2015
Box Score
| TU vs Santa Clara 
| TU at Grand Canyon
PHOENIX - Seniors Julie Kernen and Erica Sampson totaled six and four RBI, respectively, to lead the 21st-ranked Tulsa softball team to two wins on 2015 opening day, defeating Santa Clara, 9-6, and Grand Canyon, 7-3, Friday at the GCU Kickoff at Stapleton-Pierson Stadium.
The Golden Hurricane (2-0) used big innings in each game to storm ahead of its opponents. TU scored five runs in the first inning against Santa Clara on home runs by Sampson and junior Caitlin Sill, then added four runs in the fourth to defeat the Broncos. Tulsa then put up a four-run third inning against Grand Canyon, and added a run in the fifth and two more runs in the seventh.
Senior Bailey Erwin (1-0) struck out seven batters in 6.0 innings and allowed three runs and no walks to earn the win in the opener against Santa Clara. Sill (1-0) struck out five in the complete-game victory against Grand Canyon.
"We did a lot of good things in a lot of different facets," Tulsa Head Coach John Bargfeldt said. "We did a great job of getting on base and coming up with big extra base hits. We put the ball in play and didn't strike out very much. Out two starters threw 13 innings and only walked one batter and struck out 12. We didn't give up the freebies. Our hitters were very patient. That was a key, because a lot of times when you're playing on the first weekend, your hitters are pretty anxious. They did a good job being patient, and we had the right people up at the right time."
Sampson hit a two-run homer and scored twice against Santa Clara, and went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs against Grand Canyon. Kernen did damage with a three-run double against Santa Clara and a two-run double against Grand Canyon. Sill launched a three-run homer in the opening frame against Santa Clara.
Tulsa drew 10 walks, and scored nine runs on five hits in the win over Santa Clara. TU then scored seven runs on six hits and five free passes against Grand Canyon.
The Golden Hurricane will face the same two teams Saturday, playing Santa Clara at 11 a.m. CT and Grand Canyon at 6:30 p.m. CT.
Follow Tulsa Softball on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaSoftball and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaWSoftball. Follow Tulsa Athletics on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/TulsaHurricane and Facebook at www.facebook.com/TulsaHurricane.
Tulsa 9, Santa Clara 6 (Feb 06, 2015 at Phoenix, AZ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Santa Clara......... 010 110 3 - 6 10 2 (1-1) Tulsa............... 500 400 X - 9 5 2 (1-0) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Santa Clara - VIERRA; RIOS(1); JAMES(4) and BERNARD. Tulsa - Erwin, Bailey; BLEVINS, Lexi(7) and Horner, Catherine. Win-ERWIN, Bailey(1-0) Loss-VIERRA(0-1) T-2:05 A-153 HR SCU - FRANCE 2. HR TLS - Sampson, Erica; Sill, Caitlin. Weather: 70, sunnyTulsa 7, Grand Canyon 3 (Feb 06, 2015 at Phoenix, AZ) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Tulsa............... 004 010 2 - 7 6 1 (2-0) Grand Canyon........ 001 002 0 - 3 4 0 (0-1) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitchers: Tulsa - Sill, Caitlin and Horner, Catherine. Grand Canyon - Nowlin, T; Valencia, M(6) and Jordan, A. Win-SILL, Caitlin(1-0) Loss-Nowlin, T(0-1) T-2:08 A-375 HR GCU - Barak, K.
