Recap: Mulipola takes No. 1 spot heading into final day of AUX Softball

But, if you’re new to the sport, all you had to do on Friday night was see how designated player Dejah Mulipola’s sixth-inning home run changed things on the scoreboard and the leaderboard. Her two-run shot with two outs in the frame capped a four-run outburst by Team Zerkle and provided the squad with an 8-4 victory over Team O’Toole at SDSU Softball Stadium.

In addition to the victory in the game, the blast gave Mulipola MVP 1 honors, which come with 60 leaderboard points. Add the home run, her other stat points and Team Zerkle’s 100 win points and Mulipola finished the night in the top spot of the leaderboard after a 208-point effort.

Team captain Morgan Zerkle and corner infielder Nadia Taylor each registered multi-hit games for Team Zerkle, which claimed a pair of victories on the day. Zerkle, who earned MVP 2 distinction, went 2-for-4 with two runs scored while Taylor had a 2-for-3 performance.

Haylie Wagner began the game in the circle for Team Zerkle, pitching four innings of one-run ball.

Rookie Georgina Corrick pitched 2.0 innings of scoreless relief to earn her second victory of the day. The South Florida product did not allow a hit and walked just one while upping her record to 4-1.

Corner infielder Tori Vidales and outfielder Aliyah Andrews each tallied two hits in the loss for Team O’Toole, which had posted a pair of wins to begin the final series on Thursday. Rookie Maggie Balint suffered the loss after conceding four unearned runs in 0.2 innings of work.

HOW IT HAPPENED

With the score tied at 4-all, Team Zerkle scored four unearned runs after an error with one out in the sixth inning. Zerkle broke the stalemate when her single brought home pitcher Aleshia Ocasio before a wild pitch allowed outfielder Haylie McCleney for a 6-4 edge. Mulipola stepped to the plate and drilled a 3-2 pitch over the left field bleachers, extending the margin to 8-4.

LEADERBOARD IMPACT

The win allowed Mulipola and Zerkle to move up five spots on the leaderboard and set up a pivotal contest on Saturday when Team Zerkle faces Team Fischer in the final game of the season. Mulipola owns a 42-point lead over her teammate and team captain, but pitcher Danielle O’Toole is just 74 points off the lead entering the final day.

GAME NOTES

• Middle infielder Sydney Romero’s triple in the bottom of the third inning marked just the third triple in the league this season … Outfielder Jazmyn Jackson added a run-scoring triple in the top of the fifth as part of Team O’Toole’s three-run outburst, which evened the score at 4-4.

• The teams combined to leave 13 runners on base in the contest.

• Zerkle now has four multi-hit games this season with all four of them coming in her last seven games.

• There were three stolen bases in the game … Entering Friday’s action, there were four total stolen bases in the first 14 games this season.

GAME MVPS

• #1 – Dejah Mulipola (Team Zerkle, +60)
• #2 – Morgan Zerkle (Team Zerkle, +40)
• #3 – Haylie Wagner (Team Zerkle, +20)