SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Senior catcher Grace Jenkins and sophomore third baseman Alex Garcia each hit 2-for-3, while Amy Abueg struck a key triple for one of her team's four extra-base hits, as St. Francis came away with a 6-2 win over Franklin in Delta League softball action at Schuster Field Tuesday.

 

The victory represents the ninth straight for the Troubadours, who improve to 20-2 for the year and 8-1 in league play. It also marks the first time in 16 years that St. Francis has eclipsed the 20-win plateau. That 2006 Troubie squad finished 22-6-1 overall.

 

St. Francis took a 1-0 lead in the second inning but actually fell into a 2-1 hole against the Wildcats. Garcia led off that second frame with a double, then scored on an error to put the Troubies on the board. But Franklin posted two in its fourth inning, thanks to a two-run double off the bat of junior first baseman Emma Nelson.

 

Abueg's two-run triple highlighted a two-out rally in the fifth to put the Troubies back on top. Kayla Garber and Grace Jenkins each had singles early in the stanza, with Jenkins driving in Kylee Garrett (who ran for Garber) to equalize. Francesa Guerrera also attempted to score on Jenkins' hit but was gunned down at the plate. Franklin walked Hope Jenkins to get to Abueg, who responded with her three-bagger to right, scoring both Jenkins twins.

 

Garcia scored Abueg for an RBI single on the next at-bat to expand the St. Francis lead to 5-2, then Garcia scored on yet another triple – this time by senior right fielder Haley Kim – to set the board at 6-2.

 

Hope Jenkins fanned three Wildcats in the final two innings, bringing her game total to 12. She scattered four hits and walked just two while surrendering just the two unearned runs in the fourth. The 12 whiffs raises her season total to 209, making her the first player in the MaxPreps era (2005-present) of Troubie history to surpass the double-century mark. Leticia Cisnaros-Coyle held the old record of 192, set in 2006. Impressively, Hope hit that total in just 126 innings, while Cisnaros-Coyle went 181.1 in her senior year.

 

Meanwhile, on the junior varsity diamond, Franklin scored five runs in each of the fifth and sixth to pull away to a 17-7 victory. Sorina Pometta and Taylor Lewis each hit 2-for-3 with Pometta posting a triple and run scored in the third. St. Francis pulled to within a 5-4 deficit through four frames, then pushed across three runs on a two-out rally in the fifth to stay within an 8-7 margin. However, the Troubies could not quiet the Wildcat bats down the stretch.

 

St. Francis returns to action for a Thursday road game at Sheldon in what shapes up to be the area's top contest of the season. The Troubies are ranked No. 2 in the Sac-Joaquin Section by MaxPreps, while the Huskies sit right behind at No. 3. However, Sheldon prevailed by a 7-3 final in the first meeting of the two Delta League leaders.