The University of Redlands softball team dropped two games to No. 11 Linfield College (OR) on Sunday in a non-conference doubleheader at the Softball "Field of Dreams". The Bulldogs battled it out in the opener but came up short in the final two innings, resulting in the 4-7 decision. During the nightcap, the Maroon and Gray struggled to counter the Wildcats' powerful offense, which led to a 2-10 loss.
In the first game of the twin bill, senior center field Kayla Peterson (San Jose, CA) initiated Redlands' scoring with a homerun in the bottom of the first inning.
The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead after three by scoring one run in each of the subsequent innings. First, sophomore right fielder Kirstie Bender (Lakewood, CA) posted an RBI-single up the middle to score junior first baseman Lizett Casillas (Pomona, CA) from second base. In the third inning, Casillas plated senior catcher Nicky Neumann (Fremont, CA) on a single to center field.
However, the Wildcats answered in the top of the fourth with their first of six home runs on the day and scored three runs to make it a tied ball game.
Redlands rallied another run to gain a 4-3 advantage in the next inning. Freshman short stop Kirsten Milliner (Torrance, CA) singled to right center and then eventually scored on a run-down play at first base.
Nonetheless, Linfield managed two more runs in each of the remaining innings while holding the Bulldogs hitless to finish out the game.
Despite fanning five batters, senior pitcher Olivia Ellis (Colfax, CA) took the loss for Redlands with seven earned runs on nine hits.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs struggled to rally back in game two and suffered their biggest loss of the season. After scoring one run in the bottom of the third, Redlands' offense was held to just one more run in the seventh, while the Wildcats scored 10 and rattled off 13 hits.
Sophomore hurler Breanna Ruelas (Brawley, CA) suffered her first loss since Jan. 20.
Redlands (14-6, 10-0 SCIAC) strives to rebound on Tuesday when it travels to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to face off against non-conference opponent Tufts University (MA) at 5:30 p.m.