THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - On the final day of the 2014 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) softball regular season, Cal Lutheran honored five seniors, but the outcomes were not memorable ones for the Regals as Chapman churned out a sweep, handing CLU five inning 8-0 and 3-1 losses to conclude the campaign.
Appearing at Hutton Field for the final time today were Katelyn Downing, Danika Green, Kelly Lockwood, Stephanie Martello and Kayla Sakamoto. All five started both games and contributed on the diamond in a variety of ways for the final time.
In her final appearance in Violet and Gold, Downing (threw 7.0 innings, striking out two and walking none in the nightcap. She collected one hit on the day, as did Lockwood and Sakamoto. Martello was the only CLU player with a multi-hit day and she had the most touches in the field with 10 total, including five putouts and five assists. Lockwood was responsible for six outs in the field.
The first four outs of the day were ground balls back to the circle as things started solidly on both sides. CLU starting pitcher Shonna Christianson got some help from her defense early, but things quickly spiraled in the wrong direction. After a 1-2-3 first frame, the first out of the second inning featured a diving Liz Mertel that deflected the ball to Martello at shortstop who completed the 5-6-3 putout to temporarily shine.
Unfortunately, fielding in the top of the third was detrimental for the Regals as they surrendered a pair of unearned runs on errors and wild pitches. The woes continued in the fourth with back-to-back miscues to start the stanza, which haunted the home team as CU tacked on another pair of unearned runs as the Panthers doubled their lead to 4-0. In the top of the fifth, Cal Lutheran committed another error and Chapman notched four hits with a pair of walks to again match the game total, pushing the tally to 8-0.
Though Andrea Brackpool led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to left field, advancing to second on a wild pitch, the inning and game ended with a phenomenal diving catch by center fielder Karina Muniz. The only other CLU hit of the first game came on a bloop single to right field from Downing to start off the bottom of the third. Blake Lewis worked a walk as the first base runner of the game.
Leading the way for the Panthers in the morning was Amber Perez with a 2-for-2 game in which she scored twice. Leadoff batter Larissa Rinauro drove in three runs in the contest and Cassie Oregel (14-6) struck out five as she earned the win.
Christianson (5-4) was tagged with the loss, though she struck out a trio.
Game two was a much cleaner and more evenly matched low-scoring affair.
In the third, the Panthers stroked a pair of singles but, Downing was part of all three putouts in the frame with a catch on a line-drive come-backer, a strike out and a ground ball in front of the circle, to squash the threat.
Though CLU reached base in each of the first four innings and in six of seven frames, the Regals were unable to string anything together to generate any runs. It was the Panthers who struck first, to put up the first crooked number of the game in the top of the sixth inning. Downing faced just two batters over the minimum through five before singles sandwiched a sacrifice bunt and a ground ball with Taylor Cartwright driving in Muniz for the ultimate game-winner.
Cal Lutheran made some noise in the bottom of the sixth with a leadoff walk from Christina Hunter and a push bunt for a single from Martello, who did a little bit of everything in the final game of her career, but both runners were stranded.
Chapman came back in the top of the seventh with two insurance runs on consecutive hits by way of a double from Mindy Gibson and RBI-single by Megan Daugherty prior to a CLU error that allowed the third and final run to cross the plate.
In the final half inning of the season, Christianson stroked a double to the right centerfield gap to spark a come-back campaign. Fittingly, Sakamoto used her signature speed to reach on a bunt single, but an errant throw allowed Christianson to scurry home while she advanced to third. A quick third out, however, ended the game and season for CLU.
Martello stepped up both offensively and defensively. After connecting for the first hit of the game, a two-out double, she was part of all three second inning outs. Again, a deflected ball, off a teammate's (Downing) glove, found its way to her and she ended the second inning with a leaping catch on a line drive after recording the first out on a pop-up. Overall, Martello converted seven attempts without an error in game two.
Three of the five CLU seniors collected a hit in her final game.
Chapman (24-16, 17-11 SCIAC) got a complete game from Natalie Both (10-10) as she struck out nine. Muniz had a two-hit game as CU tallied seven as a team. The Panthers will advance to the SCIAC Post Season Tournament after placing third behind Redlands and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Cal Lutheran (19-19, 13-15 SCIAC) will find out its final SCIAC standings at the conclusion of games today. The Regals will either tie for fifth or place sixth.
Box Score: CU 8, CLU 0 (5)
Box Score: CU 3, CLU 1
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