COLLEGE UPDATE: Crescenta Valley High alumna Erin Ashby, Stanford go down swinging in Nebraska
The following are updates on area athletes at the collegiate level.
Erin Ashby (Crescenta Valley High, 2011) Stanford softball sophomore: Despite a performance in which Ashby drove in a pair of runs and tallied a pair of hits, Stanford stumbled against host Nebraska, losing, 10-5, to the Cornhuskers on Sunday in the final game of the NCAA Tournament’s Nebraska Regional.
Stanford went 2-2 in Lincoln, Neb., defeating Tulsa, 4-2, on Friday and Northern Iowa, 4-1, on Saturday in its second game of the day. But it lost in two outings to Nebraska.
Ashby also had a pair of hits and a run scored against Tulsa in the opener.
While Stanford finished 39-21, Ashby finished her season with an impressive line. She hit .291 in 58 starts, mostly as the team’s designated player. She tallied 19 runs, 16 extra-base hits, including six home runs, and 35 runs batted in.
John Salas (Crescenta Valley, 2009) Cal State Northridge baseball junior: Having been a reliever throughout most of his days at Crescenta Valley and then at College of the Canyons, Salas took on the same role to start with the Matadors.
But Salas has worked himself into the role of starter lately, and an effective one at that.
Salas has thrown a pair of complete games, his last coming May 12 against UC Santa Barbara, in which Northridge won, 7-1. Salas struck out six, walked one and allowed five hits. His last start came Sunday at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, as he was dealt a loss. He lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits in a 7-2 defeat.
On the season, Salas has appeared in 20 games, with 12 starts and has a 4-6 record. In 76 1/3 innings, he’s struck out 50 batters and walked but 12, while accumulating a 3.30 earned-run average.
The Matadors, who sport a 31-23 record with a 15-9 Big West Conference mark, wrap up the regular season with a three-game homestand against Cal State Fullerton.
Troy Mulcahey (Crescenta Valley, 2012) Fullerton College baseball freshman: Fullerton’s quest for a California Community College Athletic Assn. championship came up just short on Saturday with a loss to a familiar foe.
In a battle between Orange Empire Conference foes, it was Cypress, which finished fourth in the conference won by Fullerton, which won state glory.
Fullerton won its state opener against Feather River on Saturday, 9-1, but then fell in its Saturday opener to Cypress, 10-2, before staving off elimination later Saturday against Santa Rose with a 10-inning 3-2 victory. Cypress won the championship on Sunday with a 10-3 victory.
Mulcahey started all four games in the heart of the Fullerton lineup and went three for 14. He was the team’s designated hitter throughout and was never called on to pitch. He added a run, an RBI and a walk.
For the season, Fullerton finished at 32-15 with Mulcahey hitting .322 (46 for 143) with 26 runs, 12 doubles, 33 runs batted in and a .441 slugging percentage.
Sydney House (Crescenta Valley, 2011) Cal State Northridge softball sophomore: House began making an impact her sophomore season, playing in 46 games and registering 41 starts.
A former All-Area and All-Pacific League selection, House hit .228 with 26 hits, including eight doubles, and drove in 21 runs, which was good for second-best on the team. House also hit her first two collegiate home runs and both were grand slams. Her first came in an 8-0 win over Weber State on March 2 in which she went two for two with two walks. The second came in a 5-4 loss to Hawaii on March 23.
CSUN finished the season at 25-31 and 11-13 in the Big West Conference.