2 CSUN Softball Players Hurt in Head-On Crash

Two Cal State Northridge softball players were recovering Saturday from injuries sustained in a three-car collision Friday night in Morro Bay.

The driver of the car that hit theirs was killed. Police said Saturday he had been drinking.

Shelby Wilcox, 20, suffered a fractured skull, a broken right thigh bone and a broken right hand. She was listed in serious but stable condition Saturday night at Sierra Vista Regional Medical Center in San Luis Obispo. She appeared to be out of danger, said a nurse in the hospital’s intensive-care unit.

Teammate Traci Gallian, 19, suffered a broken collarbone and was released Saturday.

A Morro Bay Police Department dispatcher said Roberto Elizarraraz, 58, of Los Osos, Calif., had been drinking before his 1978 Ford pickup traveling south on Highway 1 went into the northbound lane and struck the 1991 Chevy Blazer driven by Gallian at 5:33 p.m.

Gallian’s vehicle flipped, trapping her and Wilcox for about 10 minutes until they could be removed by fire department personnel.

Elizarraraz’s pickup also struck the vehicle of a third driver, Richard Olson, 61, of San Luis Obispo, but Olson was uninjured.

Elizarraraz sustained head injuries and died Friday night at the hospital. No charges have been filed.

Wilcox and Gallian were driving to the wedding of teammate Kathy Blake in Atascadero, a coastal town about 20 miles north of San Luis Obispo.

Wilcox underwent surgery for the skull fracture, but did not have any brain injury, a nurse in the hospital’s intensive care unit said. She said Wilcox was awake and eating and might be moved from intensive care today. “She’s doing very well,” the nurse said. “She’s a very lucky young lady.”

Wilcox, a junior outfielder, batted .323 in 31 at-bats last season as Northridge advanced to the NCAA championship game. Gallian, a sophomore catcher, hit .188 in 16 at-bats.