REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands softball team swept the doubleheader at home against Pomona-Pitzer Saturday as they took the three-game series to open Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) play. The Bulldogs are now a perfect 5-0, 3-0 SCIAC.

Game 1 (W, 7-4)

Like the game on Friday, the Bulldogs trailed by three. Heading to the bottom of the fifth the Bulldogs had only nine outs to work with. Natalie Horton (Palmdale, Calif.) got the breakthrough run batted in (RBI) that scored Alexis Campos (Lake Forest, Calif.) and made it 3-1 Sagehens. The Bulldogs then took the lead for good thanks to a three-run home run by Kalyn Kershner (Ewa Beach, Hawaii) that hit the top of the fence and went over in right field wall to give Redlands their first lead of the game, 4-3. All three runs came with two outs.

The Bulldogs got three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth. Campos drove in Tsianina Flores (Corona, Calif.) and Paige Messenlehner (Fresno, Calif.) brought home Campos. The seventh and final run for the Bulldogs came from Alexa Yarbro (Murrieta, Calif.) who kept the line moving with an RBI-single to score Messenlehner. The Bulldogs would win the game 7-4.

Horton went 3-for-4 with an RBI, run scored and a double. Kershner had the big home run and went 1-for-3 with a run and three RBIs. Kassidy Long (Hemet, Calif.) started and went six innings with three runs, two earned, and two strikeouts as she moves to 2-0 on the season.

Game 2 (W, 10-1 | 5 Innings)

After trailing by three in each of the first two games of the series, the Bulldogs wasted no time getting out in from as they scored three runs in the first inning and followed that up with another five in the second.

The starting pitcher for the Bulldogs, Danielle Stallings (Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.), drove home Kershner for the first run of the game. The second and third runs came off a Tyesen Gordon (Lathrop, Calif.) triple that she drove home a run on and then scored on a throwing error from right field.

After the Bulldogs got a run to open the second thanks to an error, Horton continued her strong day with an RBI-single. Gordon then got her second RBI in as many innings when she doubled home Horton for the 6-0 advantage.

Collette Allen (Sierra Madre, Calif.) then cleared the bases with a two-run shot that fell just short of the bushes on the hill well behind the left field fence. Allen drove home Gordon and made it 8-0 Bulldogs.

The U of R was able to complete the run-rule victory with a Messenlehner sacrifice fly to right field, a Yarbro RBI-single to center in the fourth and a shutdown top of the fifth from Stallings.

Horton added two more hits to her day, going 2-for-4 with a run and RBI. Gordon   went 2-for-3 with a triple, double, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Allen was a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, two RBIs, and that monster home run. Stallings went the distance with five, one-run innings and struck out two as she is a perfect 3-0 on the season.

The Bulldogs will complete their five games in three days with a double header against Whitworth University tomorrow, Sunday, February 20 with first pitch at 10:00 a.m.