Merced offense breaks out to defeat Pitman

With his team frustrated over recent offensive struggles, Merced softball coach Bart McAfee predicted the Bears’ fortunes would turn with help from a player who had just one hit in her last four games.

McAfee projected a three-hit day for his senior shortstop, Missy Lalisan, and she did just that, breaking her slump and backing up Madilyn Nickles’ one-hitter with three hits and three RBIs in a 5-0 victory over Pitman on Wednesday.

The potent Bears lineup had scored just six runs in their previous three games.

The win coupled with Atwater’s 8-1 victory over Turlock gives Merced (11-3, 6-1 Central California Conference) at least a two-game edge on the rest of the league with eight games left to play.

“She’d been really down on her hitting, but her triple in her last at-bat against Atwater gave us a big insurance run,” McAfee said of Lalisan. “I felt like she was ready to break out and told her she’d probably get three hits today. Now she’s four for her last four with four RBIs.

“This was a big game for us and the kids played pretty much a flawless game.”

Coming off of their first conference loss in 30 games, Merced turned in the kind of focused response it needed. The Bears jumped on Pitman ace Alexis Mettler right away, plating a pair of runs in the first inning.

Katelynn Gietler opened the scoring, coming all the way home from first after a Megan Kravec (2 for 3, two runs) single to center was misplayed. Lalisan followed with an RBI single to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.

She came up big again in the third inning, singling home two more, and then scoring from second with some heads-up base running on an infield single to make it 5-0.

“Mettler is a good pitcher, so it felt good for some of us to bust out of our slumps against her,” Lalisan said. “I was just trying to go back up the middle if she gave me something there, and that’s where I got all three of my hits.”

That was all the offense Nickles would need as she tossed her third shutout in her last four outings.

Nickles just missed out on her fourth no-hitter of the season, with a Lehua DeLeon infield single the only blemish. Nickles walked three and struck out 10, not allowing a runner to reach scoring position until the seventh inning.

Atwater 8, Turlock 1 in Atwater – Gracie Santistevan helped the Falcons (9-5, 4-3 CCC) put a rough week behind them, tossing a complete game and driving in two runs in a win over the Bulldogs (7-6-1, 4-3).

This story was originally published April 1, 2015 at 11:27 PM with the headline "Merced offense breaks out to defeat Pitman."