The University of Redlands softball team traveled to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Friday afternoon, battling it out against the Athenas in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) doubleheader. The Bulldogs came out on the losing end of a pitchers' duel in the opener, 1-3, before falling short in a 7-10 bout that was shortened due to darkness.
In the opener, Redlands jumped on the board in the top of the fourth frame when senior second baseman Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA) successfully laid down a sacrifice bunt to plate senior center-fielder AJ Carrasco (Whittier, CA), who led off the inning with a triple.
After CMS put up a three-spot in the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs were held to just two hits and no runs, which led to the loss.
Freshman pitcher Lindsey Mifsud (Belmont, CA) threw a solid seven innings while dispersing five hits and allowing just three runs.
During the night cap, the Maroon and Gray came out firing by scoring four runs on five hits in the top of the first frame. King doubled to bring home Carrasco and senior left-fielder Grace Rose (Villa Park, CA), following their back-to-back singles. Senior catcher Dani Santos (West Covina, CA) blasted an RBI-single to plate King, before sophomore first baseman Ursyla Baumgarten (Penngrove, CA) laced an RBI-double, which allowed Santos to cross home plate.
Unfortunately, a costly fielding error allowed CMS to put up three runs in the bottom half of the inning.
The teams combined for two runs over the next two frames, with junior sophomore third baseman Lauren Hernandez (Littleton, CO) recording the RBI for Redlands.
However, the Athenas ignited their offense in the fourth inning, scoring five runs to take the lead at 9-5.
Although the Bulldogs pushed across two runs in the sixth, it was not enough, as darkness forced the game to end before the seventh. King and sophomore short stop Shannon Skrzynski (Pomona, CA) accounted for Redlands' final RBI.
Senior pitcher Lauren Henson (Highland, CA) suffered the loss after 3.2 innings of work, while freshman Mika Imoto (Vista, CA) and Mifsud finished out one inning apiece.
Redlands (7-5, 4-4 SCIAC) returns home to the friendly confines of the Softball Field of Dreams on Saturday, March 5, for a SCIAC doubleheader against the Occidental College Tigers. The first pitch is set for 12 noon.
