The University of Redlands softball team returned to action on Friday afternoon in Claremont, taking on the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens in a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) doubleheader. In a bizarre twin bill that featured 40 runs, the Bulldogs dropped a high-scoring game in the opener, 6-19, before rallying to take home a 10-5 victory in game two.
During the night cap, the Maroon and Gray bats came alive by firing off 15 hits in the seven-inning game. The biggest output came in the top of the fifth when the Bulldogs strung together seven runs on eight hits while taking advantage of two Sagehen errors for an 8-1 lead. With one out and runners on first and second base, freshman shortstop Shannon Skrzynski (Pomona, CA) blasted a double down the right-field line to plate sophomore designated player Amanda Ang (Santa Cruz, CA). Graduate student right-fielder Amanda Lievanos (Anaheim, CA) kept things rolling for the Maroon and Gray with a solid single that pushed across sophomore center-fielder Marissa Romero (Manteca, CA), before Skrzysnki scored on an errant play by the Pomona-Pitzer right-fielder. Junior first baseman Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA) and freshman catcher Lali Garza (Granite Bay, CA) came up with well-timed hits to combine for three RBI, while Ang stepped up to the plate for the second time in the frame for a run-scoring single.
The Bulldogs tacked on two more in the top of the seventh when King uncorked a two-run shot over the fence to make it 10-1.
Although the Sagehens rallied for four runs over the final two frames, the Redlands defense provided great support to sophomore pitcher Courtney Ludlow (Petaluma, CA), who went the distance for her second win of the season. She fanned six batters and scattered nine hits in a complete game.
King went 3-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored, while Ang crushed a triple in her 3-for-4 performance that drove in one run. Skrzysnki, junior left-fielder AJ Carrasco (Whittier, CA), and Garza all registered doubles for the Bulldogs.
Unfortunately for Redlands, the first game was quite the opposite, as the squad gave up a 6-19 loss. With the Maroon and Gray offense struggling to find its rhythm, Pomona-Pitzer simply capitalized on a difficult day for the Bulldog pitching staff.
Offensively, Skrzynski accounted for two of the team's RBI, while Carrasco notched the only multi-bag hit with a double to go along with an RBI.
After a rough start, junior pitcher Lauren Henson (Highland, CA) took the loss. Sophomore Casey Maltz (Palo Alto, CA) stepped into the circle and managed two innings for three earned runs.
Redlands (2-4, 1-3 SCIAC) looks forward to playing at the beautiful "Field of Dreams" on Sunday at 10 a.m. when it takes on Northwest Conference foe George Fox University (OR) in a doubleheader.
