The No. 13 University of Redlands softball team clinched the 2012 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) championship on Friday after No. 22 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges dropped its first of four games of the weekend. The Bulldogs solidified the honor by defeating the Athenas, 4-0, in the front half of Sunday's doubleheader in Claremont, wrapping up their eighth conference title in a row and ninth overall.
As the champion, Redlands earns the right to host the SCIAC Postseason Tournament, which determines the automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championships.
Behind a stellar performance by junior pitcher Kayla Uphold (Fontana, CA), the Maroon and Gray held CMS scoreless on just two hits during the opener. She went the distance for her 11th complete game and fanned a season-high seven batters for her 18th win of the season.
Redlands put one up on the board in the third inning and tacked on two more in the fifth. The Bulldogs collected an insurance run in the top of the seventh en route to the shutout.
Senior first baseman Rikki Scates (Redlands, CA) stepped up for her team by recording two RBI on two hits. In addition, sophomore right fielder Amanda Lievanos (Anaheim, CA) and sophomore designated player Amanda Clark (Riverside, CA) plated runs for the Maroon and Gray.
Lievanos, senior catcher Kai Masutani (Honolulu, HI), and junior center fielder Sarah Beeman (Corona, CA) all recorded multi-bag hits, with Beeman's triple leading off the two-run fifth inning.
Redlands suffered a 2-5 loss to CMS in the night cap, with Uphold surrendering just her third defeat of the season. She struck out four in four innings of work.
The Bulldogs notched the first run of the game in the top of the first when Clark scored Beeman, who connected on her second triple of the day.
However, the Athenas put up a three-spot in the third stanza for a lead they never relinquished.
Senior third baseman Molly Duran (Corona, CA) came up with an RBI-single in the top of the fourth, plating Masutani who reached on a fielder's choice.
Redlands had its chances in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out, but Athena pitcher Hayley Schultz retired the remaining two batters to shut down any hopes of a comeback.
Redlands (29-9, 21-3 SCIAC) looks forward to hosting the 2012 SCIAC Postseason Tournament on Friday and Saturday. CMS joins the field as the No. 2 seed, with No. 3 Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and No. 4 Whittier College also advancing to the tournament. Game times are set for 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday. More information will be posted as it becomes available.