Sonoma State Baseball made program and CCAA history this past Friday when Marika Lyszczyk became the first female to play in a game. Lyszczyk is originally from British Columbia and signed with the Seawolves this past year. There was plenty of buzz early in the season about the new recruit. Coming in to pitch in the 9th inning, Marika recorded three outs while giving up one unearned run on her way to history.

Sonoma, playing in their final non-conference series against Fresno Pacific, started out the game rough. Giving up a home run in the top of the second inning to Fresno’s Miguel Ortiz-Montilla. Sophomore third baseman Cooper Callison made a nice jumping snag in the third inning. Sonoma got out of a bases-loaded no-out jam in the bottom of the fourth to keep the game close. Junior right fielder Jared Esperaza saved a run with a great throw home in time to tag the runner.

Unfortunately, Fresno Pacific blew the game wide open with a five-run inning in the top of the seventh to make it 8-0. A wild pitch got the Seawolves on the board in the seventh. Sophomore Kenny Decelle hit a three-run shot to left field to close the gap, making it 8-4. A blooper single by Sonoma in the eighth inning made it an 8-5 ball game. Then came the 9th when Sonoma looked upon new sophomore pitcher Lyszczyk. After the first batter she faced flew out to deep center, Lyszczyk gave her team a strong half inning and put the baseball world on notice. After the final out of the inning, Lyszczyk was received with a bundle of support from fans and players including high fives and screams from the dugout that could be heard everywhere around the field.

After Lyszczyk’s top of the ninth outing, It was time for the Seawolves to get to work, adversely needing a four-run inning to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth. The team couldn’t ask for a better start as Sonoma loaded up the bases after back to back singles and a walk. Even with the bases loaded, no runs would come out of it for the Seawolves as they fell to Fresno Pacific by a score of 9-5

After the game Lyszczyk had this to say, “It means the world to me and I feel beyond blessed that I had the opportunity to make history today with my brothers. My coaches and team push me every day to be the best I can be and support me through it all. I truly couldn’t ask for a better program to do this with.”

Sonoma State Baseball had never had a female player on their roster therefore this was a first for the program as well as the CCAA conference which had never seen a female player play in a game. Despite the loss, this game was a great moment for Sonoma State and college baseball as a whole.