THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - While most of the Cal Lutheran student body escaped campus for spring break the softball team was in action to open the week and wrap up non-conference action, hosting Hamline (Minn.) for a pair. The first game went to the Regals, 6-2, while the second belonged to the Pipers by a score of 8-1.

The teams exchanged runs early in a game of cat-and-mouse in the opener. After exchanging two runs, CLU broke things open in the bottom of the fourth with four runs on five hits, with four stolen bases, including a double-steal, as eight Regals stepped into the batter's box.

Olivia Leyva led off with a double and Brittany Reed and Jacy Watanabe followed suit with singles. Courtney Sooy reached on a fielder's choice that cut a run down at the plate, but RBI singles from Hannah Brown and Amanda Lewis followed and CLU executed a delayed double-steal in the frame with Sooy sliding home.

Cal Lutheran struck first in the bottom of the first frame with an RBI single from Andrea Brackpool after an A. Lewiswalk and a Blake Lewis single. Hamline responded with a run of their own after a leadoff double by Chelsea Koehn and an RBI single from Delaney Kohler.

With two down in the bottom of the second, the Regals looked to Brownfor a first-pitch opposite field RBI single, scoring Reed, the designated player, who worked a leadoff walk. Again in the top of the third, HU generated a run with an RBI double by Aubree Douglas that plated Mary-Clare Couillard.

Working with an advantage, Courtney Sooy (7-5) escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the fifth inning and went on to earn her sixth win of the spring. Overall, she scattered 11 hits and struck out three.

In game two, an early error led to a pair of unearned HU runs in the top of the second and the Pipers put up another crooked number with two more in the third. The visiting team tagged on four more in the fifth on five hits including a two-RBI double from leadoff batter Jamie Rubbelke.

The only run for CLU came by way of a solo homerun from Brackpool in the bottom of the fourth. Nicole White-Madolora (3-6) was tagged with the loss, working a total of 6.0 innings, excluding the fifth when Alyssa Anderson was tagged for the four runs on five hits by Hamline.

Overall, Cal Lutheran collected 17 hits with six for extra bases and went 5-for-5 on the base paths. Leyva was 4-for-5, with three doubles and a triple, and a walk for nine total bases and a 1.800 slugging percentage today. Brown and A. Lewis each had three hits and a run scored, combining for three RBIs. Brackpool finished 2-for-6 with a pair of runs batted in.

Cal Lutheran (10-11) resumes Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play on Saturday, April 2 against Redlands with first pitch at Hutton Field scheduled for noon.

Box Score: CLU 6, HU 2
Box Score: HU 8, CLU 1
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