The University of Redlands softball team took to the "Field of Dreams" for the third time in as many days, competing against Williams College (MA) on Sunday afternoon. The Bulldogs struggled to contain the Ephs' proficient offense and dropped both games of the non-conference doubleheader, 2-11 and 4-8.
During the opener, Williams initiated the scoring with a two-spot in the first, but junior center-fielder AJ Carrasco (Whittier, CA) did her best to set an offensive tone for the Maroon and Gray by leading off the bottom of the frame with her third-career homerun. Junior designated player Addie Oeleis (Temecula, CA) kept things rolling by launching a single up the middle and advancing to second on a passed ball. With two outs, freshman second baseman Haley Farr (Chino, CA) plated Oeleis with a long single to center field.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs' bats went relatively quiet throughout the remainder of the game. Redlands recorded six more hits but stranded six on base. In addition, the Redlands pitching staff struggled to retire the Williams' offense, which tallied 12 hits and 11 runs overall.
Junior pitcher Lauren Henson (Highland, CA) suffered the loss after going 3.1 innings in the circle.
During the second game, the Maroon and Gray showed great resiliency by getting on the board first with a three-spot in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, the squad rallied with four-consecutive doubles to continually trade places with each base-runner. Oeleis started the scoring spurt, while graduate student Amanda Lievanos (Anaheim, CA), junior first baseman Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA), and junior left-fielder Grace Rose (Villa Park, CA) joined in on the action.
But the Ephs refused to go away and answered with a crooked number in the top of the fourth for a 4-3 lead. Williams continued to tack on runs by taking advantage of the Bulldogs' fatigued pitching staff while racking up 15 hits in the game.
Redlands recorded one final run in the bottom of the seventh, as a mishandled throw from center field rolled to the fence behind third base, allowing sophomore right-fielder Amanda Ang (Santa Cruz, CA) to score.
Sophomore pitcher Courtney Ludlow (Petaluma, CA) battled through a tough 6.1 innings and struck out three Ephs in the loss.
Overall, Oeleis provided a 4-for-7 day at the plate with two runs scored, while Lievanos went 4-for-7 as well with one RBI and one run scored.
Redlands (13-17, 7-11 SCIAC) looks forward to a short break from competition, before returning to action on Saturday, April 4, when it hosts Pomona-Pitzer Colleges for a 12 noon Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) doubleheader at the "Field of Dreams."
