THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Two weeks into the 2014 softball season Cal Lutheran hosted Pomona-Pitzer in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opener for both teams. On Hutton Field the Regals recorded two more victories, defeating the Sagehens 5-2 and 6-5 in walk-off fashion to remain undefeated this spring.
In a game two that had ups and downs, Cal Lutheran ended on the highest of notes. Late game heroics from Blake Lewis, after Andrea Brackpool reached base by way of a passed ball on a strike out in the bottom of the seventh inning, sent the CLU bench into a frenzy. Lewis' triple down the right field line propelled the Regals past the Sagehens to complete a sweep on the diamond today.
Though the final score of game one was close, it was controlled by the Regals from the start. CLU combined for 11 hits, from 10 different players, as Shonna Christianson (2-0) worked 5.0 innings in the victory prior to giving way to Katelyn Downing for her first save of the spring. A number of defensive gems aided in the win as well.
The offense got heated up for CLU in the second when the Violet and Gold batted around, scoring three runs on hits from Christianson, Liz Mertel and Downing. Lewisstarted the inning off by drawing a walk before Christina Hunter pinch ran and came around to score. Downing's single up the middle plated a pair, including the ultimate game winner.
Cal Lutheran would tack on runs in the third and fourth. Hunter led off the third inning with a single and scored on a wild pitch. An inning later Kayla Sakamoto bunted for a single to start the frame and came around to score on a Sagehens' miscue.
PP lit up the scoreboard in the fifth and added a second run in the sixth. With the bases jammed and two outs, Caitlyn Hynes singled up the middle, driving in the first Hens' run of the day, but a well-executed rundown from CLU, that included four different players, ended the inning, squashing the threat for more runs from the Sagehens. An unearned run in the sixth was the final scoring of the game for Pomona-Pitzer as the inning ended on a line-drive back at Downing. PP would leave the bases loaded in the top of the seventh, as the winning run was eliminated on a fly ball to Christianson in shallow left centerfield.
Mertel was the only CLU player to record a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3, and Brackpoolreached base a trio of times, drawing a two walks and connecting for a single. Hunter scored twice in game one. Christianson and Downing each struck out one from the rubber.
The second game was a series of momentum shifts.
After the Sagehens loaded the bases in the top of the first in game two, Courtney Sooy worked out of the jam by turning an inning-ending double play on a laser line drive back to the freshman pitcher, who quickly doubled off the runner at third, connecting with Mertel for the final out of the first frame.
Pomona-Pitzer scored first in the night cap, on a wild pitch, in the top of the second. The Hens then returned the line-drive, inning-ending double play to end the second and Meagan Tokunaga lined a two-out, two-run homerun over the left field fence to push the PP lead to 3-0 in the third.
CLU got back on track in the fourth with five runs after 11 players stepped into the box. Back-to-back singles from Downing and Sakamoto started the inning. Stephanie Martello loaded the bags with a single deep in the hole at shortstop and Lewis reached on an error, plating Downing. Green singled through the left side, scoring Sakamoto and closing the deficit to a run. Mertel worked an RBI walk to knot the teams and with the bases loaded, Ryanna Morua reached on a fielder's choice with everyone advancing successfully. Downing came up for the second time of the inning, drawing another run scoring walk to push the fifth and final run of the frame across the plate.
Sooy faced just four batters in the fifth and three in the sixth. The Sagehens scored twice in the top of the seventh on an RBI triple down the right field line off the bat of Aryana Yee and a sacrifice fly from Hynes, forcing CLU to bat in the bottom of the seventh.
Remaining grounded and focused on the task at hand and taking things one pitch at a time the Regals were able to bind together and churn out the win.
Leading the way for Cal Lutheran in game two was Lewis who finished 2-for-4. Both Downing and Lewis drove in a run and scored once. Sooy (3-0) threw her third complete game of the season, striking out three over 7.0 innings of work.
Pomona-Pitzer (0-7) was paced by Ashley Morello who was 2-for-3 with a double in the first game and 2-for-4 in the second, scoring one of the two seventh inning runs. Bianca Cockrell (0-3) and Eden Griffen (0-4) were each tagged with losses today.
Cal Lutheran (6-0) will be back at Hutton Field on Saturday, Feb. 22 for a double dip with La Verne. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Tomorrow, Sunday, Feb. 16, the current CLU team will meet the Alumni between the lines at 1:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 5, PP 2
Box Score: CLU 6, PP 5
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