No. 2 for Northridge Over a No. 1 Team

Scia Maumausolo singled home Jen Fleming with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Cal State Northridge a 2-1 victory over top-ranked Arizona Friday night in pool play of the Cal State Fullerton PONY softball tournament.

The win over Arizona (24-3) marked the second time this season that the Matadors have defeated a No. 1-ranked team. Northridge split a doubleheader with then top-ranked UCLA on Feb. 10.

Northridge (22-3-1), the No. 7-ranked team in the country, will play the loser of Friday night’s late game between Fullerton and Western Illinois today at noon to open bracket play.

Maumausolo, a freshman from San Diego Mt. Carmel High, delivered her game-winning hit on a 1-and-0 fastball from Arizona pitcher Leah O’Brien (11-3).

“She threw me a rise on her first pitch so I was looking for some heat on the second,” Maumausolo said. “And that’s what she threw me. It feels good to beat them. We had heard from some other people that they were saying we were a pretty mediocre team.”

Trailing, 1-0, after 4 1/2 innings, Northridge tied the score in the fifth on Maumausolo’s sacrifice fly.

Terri Pearson reached first base on a throwing error to start the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Fleming. She moved to third on a single by Beth Calcante, who took second on the relay to the infield. O’Brien intentionally walked Tamara Ivie to load the bases and Maumausolo followed with her sacrifice fly.

Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the second when former Glendale High standout Jenny Dalton singled in Laura Espinoza with two out.

Kathy Blake (8-1), a sophomore right-hander, pitched a five-hitter for Northridge. She struck out six and walked one.

Missy Cress had two hits for Northridge, which is 6-0-1 since losing the first game of a doubleheader to DePaul last Saturday.