ORANGE, Calif. - Saturday on the road the Cal Lutheran softball team split with Chapman in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) action, dropping a close 2-1 decision in extra innings during game one before defeating the Panthers 7-1 in the nightcap.
CU def. CLU 2-1 (8 innings)
The Regals and Panthers needed extra innings in the opening game of the day at Camino Real Park where host Chapman prevailed with two late runs. CLU took an early 1-0 first inning lead on an Amanda Lewis RBI hit that scored Olivia Leyva. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Violet and Gold would generate. A scoreless affair through the next six innings gave way to the tying run in the bottom of the seventh. Chapman used a two-out rally to push across the tying run and an inning later the Panthers used a pair of walks and a pair of hits to produce the winning run. CLU finished with five hits from five different players. Leyva and Mikaela Mayhew each drew walks and A. Lewis stole a base.
CLU def. CU 7-1
Cal Lutheran used a four run third inning to take the lead and maintained it throughout, allowing the lone CU run in the bottom of the fifth. CLU got RBI hits from Blake Lewis and Hannah Brown as well as a two-RBI single to centerfield from Antonia Rapisardi in the inning. In the fourth, Andrea Brackpool lifted a sacrifice fly that scored Mayhew and the Regals tacked on two more in the top of the sixth. Both Brown and B. Lewis had two hits and CLU combined for eight hits in the contest. Brackpool, A. Lewis, Leyva and Abbigael Howard worked a pair of walks apiece and Leyva crossed the plate twice as did A. Lewis. Nicole White-Madolora (3-4) earned the win, tossing a complete game and striking out two while scattering nine hits and allowing just a single run. More than half of her pitches today were strikes, notching 61 in 105 total pitches.
Notables: CLU snapped a five game losing streak with its game two win today. Game one was the first extra innings game of the year for the Regals. Rapisardi returned to the lineup after being sidelined with an injury the last couple series.
Up Next: Cal Lutheran (8-9, 3-5 SCIAC) returns to Hutton Field for a pair against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, March 12. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. between the Regals and Sagehens.
CLU Instagram: http://instagram.com/clusports#
CLU Twitter: https://twitter.com/clusports
CLU Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clusports
