The DVC women’s softball team hosted Santa Rosa on March 18, losing 4-3 in 10 innings to their conference rivals.  

DVC had a chance to regain the lead in the bottom of the seventh and final inning with a runner on third with two outs.  

Head coach Angela Goularte shocked everyone by calling for a suicide bunt, hoping to catch the opposition off guard.
But Santa Rosa was not fooled, as they fielded it cleanly and threw out the runner.

 “We just went for it,” Goularte said. “Our offense has been unpredictable all season. So I took a risk hoping to generate runs.”

With the Vikings unable to score, the game was forced into extra innings, where both offenses were stagnant.

Santa Rosa finally took the lead in the tenth on an RBI single and DVC was unable to answer.

With the loss to Santa Rosa, DVC falls to 4-13 on the season and 1-5 in the conference.

The game was a defensive struggle right off the bat. Shortstop Jessica Pader and third-baseman Therese Gascon-Milton made diving, defensive stops to keep DVC close early in the game.

DVC’s freshman starting pitcher Gina McArdle held Santa Rosa to just one run through five innings.

The game finally broke open in the fourth inning. A hit batter, an error, and some clutch hitting from the Vikings’ Raven Mostella-Anderson and Megan Souza put DVC on top 3-1.

The game turned once starting pitcher McArdle was relieved by Mostella-Anderson in the sixth inning.

Santa Rosa immediately took advantage by tallying a run and loading the bases. Goularte had no choice but to put McArdle back into the game.

But a wild pitch in the seventh inning brought in the tying run for Santa Rosa.

DVC’s next matchup is at Cosumnes River College at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, March 23.

Contact Josh Fathollahi at [email protected]