THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Cal Lutheran softball was on the short end of 15-7 and 7-1 decisions on Saturday, April 14, against No. 24 nationally ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The Athenas hit seven homers on the day including four by Emily Lopez to pull away.
Box Score (Game One): CMS 15, CLU 7 - F
Box Score (Game Two): CMS 7, CLU 1 - F
In two games against CMS back on March 10 the Regals managed to plate just three runs on 12 hits. Despite eclipsing both totals by the fifth inning of Saturday's opening game it was not enough against a powerful Athenas lineup.
CMS 15, Cal Lutheran 7 - F
Cal Lutheran recorded a season-high 16 base hits with 14 coming against CMS starting pitcher and 10-game winner Rebecca Gularte. An early two-out error by the Athenas led to a three-run frame and a 3-2 CLU lead through two innings.
CMS' ability to hit with two outs proved to be the difference in the game one result. The Athenas were 7-for-13 at the plate when down to their final out, and collected 10-of-14 RBI with two outs.
CMS teammates Emily Lopez and Emily Nordhoff combined to go 8-for-10 including five home runs and 10 runs batted in for the game. Lopez was a grand slam shy of completing the home run cycle after blasting a first inning two-run shot, a fourth inning three-run homer, and a sixth inning leadoff bomb. Her lone out of the day was a line drive to center field.
Nordhoff hit a pair of two-run homers over the center field wall and finished 4-for-5 with four RBI for the game. As a team CMS went 20-for-40 at the plate (.500) and boasted a lineup of five players with multiple base hits.
Overshadowed were the offensive efforts of Cal Lutheran's Danika Green and Kathleen Watson-Otani. The pair combined to go 8-for-9 with four runs batted in for the game, but the Regals missed out on premium scoring chances stranding 11 runners on base.
Gularte improved to 11-2 on the season after allowing seven runs (four earned) over 4.2 innings. She was chased in the fifth inning after the Regals scored three runs and loaded the bases. Reliever Hayley Schultz got out of the two-out jam and combined with Amanda Banducci to close out the final seven outs without surrendering any more runs.
CMS 7, Cal Lutheran 1 - F
Emily Lopez finished the day 6-for-7 with eight RBI after a 2-for-2 game two performance that included a two-run homer, a sixth inning single, and two walks. Teammate Rebecca King followed up one of those base on balls with a home run of her own, the team's seventh on the afternoon.
The Athenas scored in each of the first four innings to take a 7-0 lead. Meanwhile CMS starting pitcher Hayley Schultz breezed through the first five innings but was denied the shutout after Cal Lutheran scored in the sixth.
Singles from Katelyn Downing and Danika Green put runners on the corners with one out. A Brittany Labbe groundout brought Downing home for the lone Regals game two run.
Kayla Sakamoto led Cal Lutheran going 2-for-4 in the game. She finished with five infield singles and a stolen base on the day. She held the Athenas offense to just two unearned runs in 4.2 innings of pitching relief to finish game two.
The CMS trio of Lopez, King, and Nordhoff combined for 16 hits including seven home runs, scored 14 of the team's 22 runs, and contributed 16 of the team's 20 runs batted in.
Cal Lutheran (11-25, 4-16 SCIAC) will host Whittier (18-14, 9-11 SCIAC) for a two-game set on Sunday, April 15. With the losses the Regals were mathematically eliminated from earning a berth into the SCIAC Post-Season Tournament.
