THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran was victim of the No. 1 Linfield Wildcats today at Hutton Field, falling 11-2 and 10-0 in their final non-conference series of the spring.
Box Score (Game 1): LC 11, CLU 2 - F/5
Box Score (Game 2): LC 10, CLU 0 - F/6
Linfield lit up the scoreboard straight away with four runs in the first inning, putting CLU at an early deficit. The Wildcats added a run in the second and tacked on four more in the third.
Sarah Lichtsinn drew a leadoff walk in the third inning for the first CLU base runner of the day. Unfortunately the LC third baseman, Karleigh Prestianni, nabbed a line drive off Liz Mertel's bat that looked destine to fall and fired across the diamond for a Linfield double-play.
The fourth inning belonged to the Regals. After holding LC off the board in the top of the frame, CLU struck in the bottom half. Brittany Labbe broke up Lauren Harvey's hitless game with a single to center, which loaded the bases. Kayla Sakamoto reached on an error and Kathleen Watson-Otani walked. Danika Green then stroked a single to left, driving in a pair to put Cal Lutheran on the board. Lichtsinn squared up a ball, but hit a line drive right at Prestianni for the final out of the inning.
Staci Doucette connected for a two-run homerun over the right centerfield fence in the top of the fifth for LC to conclude the scoring in the game.
Lauren Harvey (9-1) earned the win after throwing 4.0 innings. Shelby VandeBergh closed out the game tossing the fifth.
Downing was tagged with the loss after going just 2.0 innings. Sakamoto swapped places, firing the final three innings for CLU.
In game two CLU collected just a trio of hits, but were unable to get any breaks while playing nearly flawless defense. Six of the 13 Linfield hits were for extra bases as they scored 10 unanswered runs.
LC turned a first inning double play reminiscent of the one they put together in game one. After Sakamoto singled and moved up to second, a double play ended the inning. Doucette nabbed a line drive at first base and doubled up Sakamoto at second. The game also ended on a line-drive, throw-back double play from Prestianni to Briana Brewer at second base.
Cal Lutheran's defense stepped up in game two. They pieced together a fantastic relay for the final out of the fourth inning. A double off the wall by Brosig was retrieved by Sakamoto. She fired in to Lichtsinn who gunned out the greedy runner at third, tagged out by Liz Mertel. Lichtsinn then made a fantastic play at second base for the third out of the fifth. Ryanna Morua, Downing and Brittany Labbe combined for a sixth inning 6-4-3 double-play.
The CLU hits came from leadoff batter Sakamoto, Green and Morua.
Linfield pitcher Karina Paavola went 5.0 innings, striking out eight, for her ninth win of the spring, before handing the ball back to VandeBergh.
Emilee Lepp hit a pair of homeruns in the game for Linfield. The first was a solo shot in the opening frame, the ultimate winning run, while her sixth inning blast was a grand slam.
Nicolby Atallah (3-7) was tagged with the loss.
Cal Lutheran (8-18) returns to SCIAC action on Saturday, March 24 at Pomona-Pitzer for a pair. The Regals and Sagehens will begin playing at 12:00 p.m.
