The University of Redlands softball team battled it out with the visiting Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) doubleheader on Friday afternoon at the Field of Dreams. In a pair of opposite results, the Bulldogs dropped the opening game, 0-5, before putting together an impressive performance in the nightcap to win by a score of 6-1.
During the second contest, sophomore pitcher Mika Imoto (Vista, CA) entered the circle and quickly sat down the Athenas' first three batters, including one by a strikeout.
She proceeded to rely on her defense in the second frame when junior first baseman Lali Garza (Granite Bay, CA) provided the heads-up double play on a line-out at her bag.
Redlands recorded the first hit of the game when Imoto led off the bottom of the third inning with a double to right-center field. The home team proceeded to load the bases on a walk and a hit-by-pitch to force multiple defensive switches by CMS' head coach. The Bulldogs kept the pressure on, as senior left fielder Marissa Romero (Manteca, CA) put the ball in play for an Athena error that scored two runs. Redlands wasn't done yet, as the Maroon and Gray loaded the bases again, which set up junior shortstop Ursyla Baumgarten's (Penngrove, CA) sacrifice fly to plate Romero, who craftily avoided the tag on her slide into home.
During the top of the fourth, Imoto dispersed her only hit of the game in a solid showing. Although this eventually led to an Athena run off of a sacrifice fly, the damage was minimal.
Additional defensive switches by CMS in the bottom of the fifth did little to faze the Maroon and Gray, as the home team took advantage of a hit-by-pitch, a Baumgarten single, and an Athena error to load the bases once again. Imoto continued with her solid day by launching a sacrifice fly that sent Garza home before Baumgarten crossed home on a wild pitch.
Redlands tacked on another run in the sixth while keeping with the trend of a sacrifice fly that followed Romero's lead-off triple.
In the meantime, Imoto continued to cruise from the circle and eventually recorded the final out of the game on her fourth punch-out to complete the one-hitter in fine fashion. She also went 2-for-2 from the plate for one run and one RBI in a well-rounded effort.
Unfortunately for the home team, the day started on a less positive note, as CMS registered a 5-0 win in the opener.
Redlands mustered only four hits in this game, as the first scoring chance came in the bottom of the third with a baserunner on third base. Sophomore first baseman Tawney Lilley (Alta Loma, CA) led off the frame with a single, before sophomore Jordyn Smith (Highland, CA) pinch-ran for her and promptly moved to second on a wild pitch and then made her way to third on a groundout to first base. But the third out prevented the Bulldogs' run to keep them off the board.
The Bulldogs recorded two hits in the bottom of the fourth, as Garza found space up the middle before junior second baseman Shannon Skrzynski (Pomona, CA) singled to center field. But nothing came of the quality base knocks.
CMS put up a crooked number in the fifth on a bases-clearing double to create enough cushion to secure the win over the Bulldogs.
Redlands (8-14, 5-7 SCIAC) takes on the Willamette University (OR) Bearcats in a non-conference twin bill on Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. on the Field of Dreams.