THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - The Cal Lutheran women's softball team snapped a four-game losing streak and remained undefeated in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action as it swept Occidental 3-1 and 11-2 (five innings) Saturday at Hutton Field. Cal Lutheran got four strong innings and three hits at the plate from game one starter Shonna Christianson before Stephanie Martello broke game two open with a two-RBI triple.
Game one saw the Regals get two runs in the bottom of the third inning when Blake Lewis singled in Christianson and Danika Green was hit by a pitch, allowing Ryann Morua to score.
Cal Lutheran scratched across another run in the bottom of the fourth when Christianson led off in the inning with a double, advanced to third on a Morua double and then scored on a passed ball, allowing CLU to go up 3-0.
Occidental got a run back in the fifth when it scored on a pass ball and could have had one more but Kayla Sakamoto cut down Ali Goldberg at home on a long throw from center field after she tried to tag up and score.
After Christianson (3-0) pitched the first 4.0 innings, Katelyn Downing came on for the final 3.0 and allowed just one hit and earned her second save of the season.
Amber Garland suffered the loss for the Tigers after pitching all 6.0 innings and allowing three runs on seven hits.
Christianson led the Regals at the plate, going 3-for-3 with two runs scored. Morua also had two hits for CLU.
Golberg had three hits to lead the Tigers.
The Regals wasted little in game two, grabbing a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Martello tripled into the right-centerfield gap and plated Sakamoto and Christina Hunter. Later in the inning, Liz Mertel sent a single into left field that allowed Martello to score.
The Tigers would claw back with two runs in the top of the third after Jacqueline Shimamoto's two-RBI double made it 5-2.
Cal Lutheran would respond however with six runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Downing, Sakamoto and Hunter had three straight singles to lead off the inning. Martello then drove in her third run of the game when she singled in Downing. Following a fly out, Cal Lutheran got its fifth single of the inning when Andrea Brackpool laced a base-hit into left field and drove in Sakamoto. The Regals would add a sacrifice fly and Occidental would walk in two more runs to make the score 11-2.
CLU game two starter Courtney Sooy would retire the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth to give CLU the mercy-rule victory.
Sooy (5-2) went all 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out five.
Emily Pham (0-1) suffered the loss after giving up nine runs on 12 hits in 3.1 innings of work.
Martello finished game two 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs. Sakamoto also had three hits for the Regals while Brackpool had a pair of base-hits and scored two runs.
Cal Lutheran (10-4, 6-0 SCIAC) will be back in action next Friday, March 14, when it travels to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The doubleheader with the Athenas is set for 2:00 p.m.
Game 1 Box Score: CLU 3 OXY 1
Game 2 Box Score: CLU 11 OXY 2 (5 innings)
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