THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - In a non-conference, weekday matchup against Augsburg (Minn.), the Cal Lutheran softball team continued its strong play and swept the Auggies handily with 7-1 and 7-5 wins at Hutton Field.
Game one featured a stellar performance in the circle from starting pitcher Shonna Christianson who pitched a complete game and allowed just four hits. The senior gave up just one run in the game and improved her record to 4-3 with the win.
While Christianson was shutting down Augsburg batters, the Regals came through with plenty of run support. With two outs in the third inning, Christina Hunter sparked a rally with an RBI single to left field to give CLU the first run of the game. Olivia Leyva followed with a triple to drive in Hunter and Blake Lewis doubled home Leyva to take a 3-0 lead.
Leyva and B. Lewis teamed up once more in the fifth with RBI hits and Christianson helped her own cause with a two-RBI double in the sixth inning to take a 7-0 lead.
The Auggies scraped one across in the seventh to end the shutout, but Christianson got the very next batter to ground out to end the game.
In game two, CLU did the brunt of their scoring early on as they jumped out to a 6-1 lead after the first two innings. The Regals loaded the bases in the bottom of the first inning, and B. Lewis came up clutch with a single to center to score two runs. Amanda Lewis knocked in two more with a double to left center and CLU took a quick 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the second, Hunter roped a triple over the right fielder's head and came around to score on a single from Leyva. Teamwork from the Lewis' brought Leyva home to score, after B. Lewis moved her over with a groundball to third base and A. Lewis legged out an infield single up the middle.
Despite the early lead for CLU, Augsburg continued to chip away and narrowed the Regals lead to just one, 6-5, after scoring in four straight innings. They threatened in the sixth with a runner on third but Courtney Sooy got out of the jam.
At the plate in the bottom half of the sixth, Sooy hit an RBI double to left field to give the Regals a 7-5 lead and give herself some breathing room in the circle.
Sooy got the final batter by way of the strikeout in the seventh and evened her season record to 8-8. She allowed 10 hits and four runs while striking out four in her 11th complete game of the season.
Leyva led the Violet and Gold at the dish, going a combined 4-for-7 with four runs scored and three RBIs. A. Lewis also had four hits and added two doubles and three RBIs while Hunter and B. Lewis each added three hits at the plate.
Cal Lutheran (10-11, 10-5 SCIAC) will compete in their final non-conference series this Wednesday, Mar. 18 against Hamline (Minn.) starting at 12:00 p.m.
Box Score: CLU 7, AUG 1
Box Score: CLU 7, AUG 5
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