The No. 7 University of Redlands softball team controlled its own destiny on Saturday by defeating No. 21 Chapman University in an important Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) doubleheader in Orange.  During Strikeout Cancer Day, the Bulldogs prevailed by a score of 4-0 in the opener and then nabbed a 3-0 victory in a 10-inning nightcap. 

With its 16th consecutive win and fourth shutout in a row, the Maroon and Gray solidifies its position at the top of the standings with just two games remaining in the regular season.

Senior pitcher Kayla Uphold (Fontana, CA) pitched all but one inning during the doubleheader, earning both wins to improve to 20-5 on the season.

With two outs in the first inning of the day Redlands initiated the scoring when senior center-fielder Sarah Beeman (Corona, CA) singled down the right-field line to plate freshman right-fielder AJ Carrasco (Whittier, CA) after she took second on a bunt and an error by the Panther defense.

The Bulldogs showed off their aggressive base-running in the third frame, leading to a pair of runs on two additional Chapman miscues.

Freshman short stop Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA) capped off the scoring of the first game when she plated Beeman on an infield single.  Beeman had put herself in scoring position on a leadoff triple to left-center field.

During the opener, Uphold scattered five hits and fanned two before giving way to junior pitcher Kaitlyn Hooper (Riverside, CA), who closed out the game in one inning of work.

The second game saw a scoreless pitchers' duel that eventually forced the international tiebreaker rule to go into effect. 

Finally, in the top of the 10th, with junior catcher Kristen Hooper (Riverside, CA) as the previous batter placed on second, the Bulldogs moved her over on a sacrifice bunt by Uphold.  Two batters later with two outs, freshman left-fielder Grace Rose (Villa Park, CA) stepped up with a critical infield single to bring home Kristin Hooper.  Another single and a walk loaded the bases for King, who singled through the left side for two more runs, which was all the Bulldogs needed to capture the important win.

During the bottom of the frame, Chapman successfully moved its placed runner to third, but Uphold retired the next three batters for the exciting Redlands victory.

Uphold allowed eight hits but no runs while going all 10 innings in the nightcap.

Redlands (31-7, 21-5 SCIAC) heads to second-place and 18th-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Friday, April 19, for its final doubleheader of the regular season, beginning at 11 a.m.  Fans may follow the action via live web streaming.