THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Pitchers aren't normally known for their hitting but Cal Lutheran's starting two pitchers, Katelyn Downing and Shonna Christianson, came up with the clutch hits as the Regals swept Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) foe Pomona-Pitzer 5-4 in eight innings and 9-1 in five innings on senior day Saturday afternoon at Hutton Field.
Saturday also marked SCIAC softball teams participating in the third annual Strike Out Cancer campaign. Cal Lutheran honored This year it has an extra special connection to Cal Lutheran with all proceeds going to the family of three-year old Zoe Feldman, an Agoura Hills resident.
Downing got the start in the circle in game one but Pomona-Pitzer struck first in the top of the second inning when Emily Glass's single took a fortuitous hop past the CLU right fielder and she cruised into third base thanks to the two-base error. Caitlyn Hynes then stepped in and ripped a hard-hit liner to down the third base line. The Cal Lutheran third baseman got a glove on it but couldn't come up with it and the ball trickled into left field allowing Glass to score for the first run of the game.
The Sagehens threatened again in the top of the third when Susan Boden led off with a double down the left field line and moved to third on a passed ball but Downing buckled down and got a ground-out and two strikeouts to end the scoring chance.
Cal Lutheran carried the momentum into the bottom half of the inning when Christianson was hit by a pitch and Kayla Sakamoto singled through right side to put runners at first a second. Brittany Labbe then hit a fly ball that the Sagehens center fielder couldn't track down, loading the bases. After an eight-pitch at bat, Shannon Tinsley worked an RBI walk to get CLU on the board. Blake Lewis then gave CLU its first lead when she lifted a fly ball into left field and allowed Sakamoto to score on the sacrifice fly.
Pomona-Pitzer pulled even in the top of the fourth when Paige Oliver singled in Glass who led off the inning with a double off the wall.
After the Regals surrendered a run in the top of the fifth, Lewis notched her second RBI of the day in the bottom half of the inning when she drove a double to the right-field fence, plating Sakamoto and tying the score at 3-3.
Following a scoreless sixth, Pomona-Pitzer led off the top of the inning with back-to-back singles, the Sagehens took the lead when Lauren Boden hit a groundball to Downing, who was unable to field it. S. Boden, who was at third, initially hesitated before breaking late for home but CLU shortstop Ryanna Morua, who fielded the stray grounder, never saw her leave and the Sagehens scored the go-ahead run.
The Regals would rally however in the bottom of the seventh. Sakamoto led off the inning with a bloop single and then alertly advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Labbe. Lewis followed with her second sacrifice fly of the game to tie the score at 4-4 and sending the game into extra innings.
After Downing retired Pomona-Pitzer in order in the top of the eighth, Christina Hunter reached on error to lead off the inning. Liz Mertel laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Hunter to second and Downing sent the third pitch of the bat into the right-center gap for a walk-off RBI double as CLU earned its first extra-inning win of the year.
Downing (6-10) pitched all eight innings to earn the win. She allowed just two earned runs while striking out a season-high seven.
In addition to Downing's game-winning RBI double, CLU was led offensively by Sakamoto who had three hits and Lewis drove in three.
Fiona Riley (5-18) suffered the complete-game loss, tossing 7.1 innings while allowing seven hits and two unearned runs.
S. Boden led the Sagehens offensively with a 2-for-2 performance at the plate.
Cal Lutheran picked up right it left off in game two, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning. Christianson led off the inning with an infield single and later came home on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, Sakamoto scored on a Sagehen error as CLU went up by two runs.
Pomona-Pitzer scratched across a run in the top of the third and looked to have another when Glass laced a shot through the right side of the infield but Labbe made a perfect throw to first base to get the runner and get out of the inning.
Cal Lutheran pushed across a run in the second, third and fourth to increase its lead to 5-1.
The Regals enforced the mercy-rule in thanks to a wild four-run fifth inning. Hunter and Debben Hoffer both singled to start the inning and Hunter was brought in by a Christianson single. On the next play, and a wild one at that, Labbe laced a base hit to left field, driving in Hoffer and Taylor Beacham and then scored herself after Pomona-Pitzer made two throwing errors, giving CLU the win.
Christianson (5-6) earned the complete-game win, allowing just one run on five hits. She also went 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored. Labbe and Hoffer also had two hits in the win.
Caitlyn Hynes (3-3) suffered the loss for the Sagehens, giving up four runs on three hits.
Leah Bleichner led Pomona-Pitzer offensively with two hits.
Cal Lutheran (14-20, 9-15 SCIAC) surpassed its win total from last year with the victories Saturday. The Regals will be back in action Friday, April 19, when they host Chapman at 2:00 p.m.
Game 1: CLU 5 PP 4 (8 innings)
Game 2: CLU 9 PP 1 (5 innings)
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