CLAREMONT, Calif. - Opening the second round of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) softball action on the road today the Cal Lutheran Regals completed a season sweep of Pomona-Pitzer with a pair of victories, winning by 4-1 and 6-4 margins on the diamond.
On an afternoon that CLU collected 21 hits in two games; the pitching was just as productive as Katelyn Downing moved into first place, alone, in the CLU record books with the fourth save of her career while Shonna Christianson threw another complete game.
At the plate, Blake Lewis launched the second homerun of her career and a trio of players had three-hit days. Kelly Lockwood and Stephanie Martello each doubled as one of her three hits and Liz Mertel stroked three singles. Martello drove in in four runs including the sacrifice fly and two-RBI single up the middle that scored the winning runs in game one and two, respectively. Downing and Courtney Sooy crossed the plate three times apiece in the victories.
Thanks to a two-out, first-pitch swinging Lewis, CLU got out to a quick 1-0 lead.
"I just went into the at-bat excited and ready to go," she shared. "I wanted to make something happen and start up a two-out rally. I saw the first pitch and got all of it."
Though Martello doubled as the next batter, the Sagehens got out of the inning and held Cal Lutheran hitters at bay until the Regals were forced into another rally situation in the top of the seventh. PP knotted the teams at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth and CLU came back two frames later to score three and all but secure the win.
Leading off the top of the seventh, Downing drew one of two walks in the game and Kayla Sakamoto beat out an infield single to put two on for Lewis who sacrificed them over with a bunt to the third base side. Martello promptly lifted a sac fly to score Downing and Danika Green added some insurance with a two-RBI single to right field on which she advanced to second on a fielding error in the outfield. Sooy, pinch running for Green, came in for the final run of the game on a Lockwood double.
Christianson (5-0) remained undefeated in the circle after scattering seven hits, allowing just a single run, in 7.0 innings of work.
In game two the Regals opened another early advantage with a two-run third on three hits and a Pomona-Pitzer error. Sooy started the inning with a single and scored three batters later on a Lewis RBI hit. Sakamoto also singled in the inning, scoring with some help from a Hens miscue.
The home team cut the CLU lead in half in the fourth with a run, but the Violet and Gold responded in the top of the fifth with an RBI single down the left field line from Martello that scored Downing to regain a two-run lead at 3-1.
Martello would come up big again in the sixth inning when Cal Lutheran scored three more. Mertel reached on a fielder's choice and Sooy knocked her in before Downing drew another walk and Christina Hunter did the same to load the bases. Martello singled to centerfield, plating both Sooy and Downing for the final CLU runs of the game.
Pomona-Pitzer came back in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on three walks and two hits. Freshman hurler Sooy (7-4) struck out four before handing the ball over to Downing with one down and the bases loaded. Downing would face seven batters, striking out the final Sagehens player she faced, to lock up the record-setting save.
Pomona-Pitzer (5-22, 2-14 SCIAC) was led today by four hits apiece from Susanne Boden and Ashley Morello. Bianca Cockrell and Eden Griffen were each tagged with a loss despite each throwing complete games.
Cal Lutheran (16-8, 10-4 SCIAC) moved into second place in the conference standings with the wins today and will face league-leading Redlands (18-6, 14-0 SCIAC) tomorrow for a pair at Hutton Field beginning at 12:00 p.m. The games were originally scheduled for March 2, but were postponed due to rain.
Box Score: CLU 4, PP 1
Box Score: CLU 6, PP 4
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