Washington softball struggles in the field in 6-4 loss to Cal

The Washington Huskies couldn’t recover from a poor start in the field at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday night, falling to the California Golden Bears 6-4.

After starter Sophia Ramuno recorded two quick outs in the top of the first inning, back-to-back errors from left fielder Charity Sevaaetasi and second baseman Sophi Mazzola led to a two-run home run by designated hitter Alyssa Herrera in a four-run frame.

Ramuno, who took her second loss of the season and dropped to 3-2, let up 3 hits while all 4 runs were unearned, and she wasn’t able to make it out of the inning before coach Heather Tarr turned to Oregon transfer Stevie Hansen in relief. The senior, who was coming off a no-hitter against UC Riverside on Thursday night, worked 4 1/3 innings and let up 4 hits, 2 runs, and a walk with a strikeout as Washington’s bats fell silent.

Outside of Mazzola’s, that is. The leadoff hitter made up for her error by blasting a three-run home run in the fifth inning, and added an RBI single in the seventh, her first-career four-RBI game. The Huskies only mustered three hits on the night, with the other being a triple off the bat of Ava Carroll in the seventh before Mazzola drove her in.

The Golden Bears added two solo homers off the bats of Mia Phillips and Tianna Bell in support of Miranda De Nava, who improved to 4-1 on the season with the victory. She worked all 7 innings, allowing 3 hits, 4 runs, and 3 walks with 5 strikeouts as Washington’s defense faltered.

The Huskies committed 4 errors in the contest, which dropped them to No. 11 in the Big Ten with a .953 fielding percentage for the season.

With the loss, Tarr’s team fell to 6-7 on the season ahead of a matchup with UC Santa Barbara at 7:30 p.m. PST on Saturday.