Kayla Dunn struck out 13 over five innings as the Carson High softball team opened with a 6-2 win over Riverbank in the Ceres Tournament.
Carson settled for a split on Wednesday when the Senators lost in their second game, 3-1 to Beyer of Modesto. It was a frustrating game for the Senators, who stranded 11 runners and left the bases loaded three times.
"We put the ball in play, but right at them," Carson coach John Sullivan said. "We just couldn't get the timely hit."
Dunn went 2-for-2 with a walk and two triples against Beyer. "We just didn't have her up at the right time," Sullivan said.
Brittany Puzey was the losing pitcher, allowing four hits while striking out three. Bethany Henry had a hit, Lindsey Perondi went 1-for-1 and Kaitie Vidovich drove in Carson's run with a sacrifice fly.
Against Riverbank, Dunn pitched a one-hitter. "A great effort by Dunn in the first game," Sullivan said.
Carson had a balanced attack as nine hitters had 10 hits for the Senators. Puzey was 2-for-3, Kaylee Risi, Henry, Vidovich, Talia Joyce and Dunn all had a hit and an RBI, Lindsay Farnworth had a hit and two RBIs and Baylee Biber and Ariandne Gonzalez each added a hit for Carson.
The Senators scored three runs in the first innings on RBI singles by Henry, Farnworth and Vidovich. In the second, Puzey singled and stole second and Risi and Dunn followed with RBI singles. In the third Biber and Joyce each doubled.
Carson didn't commit an error in either game, although it only had two chances against Riverbank, with Dunn striking out 13 in the five-inning game.
"We didn't have many chances since Dunn struck out so many," Sullivan said. "We played really well against Riverbank. We played defensively well, pitched well."