California Baptist University
Hope International University (Calif.)
SENIOR SENDOFF
4/16/2011 11:01:00 PM | Softball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. --- Briana Corral and her fellow seniors couldn't have asked for a better sendoff.
Playing in front of their home crowd on Senior Day and honored with a special tribute between games, Corral, Nicole Shoemaker and fellow seniors Caty Reeves and Meagan Silva helped the Lancers pick up a GSAC doubleheader sweep of Hope International on a warm Saturday at John C. Funk Stadium.
The Lancers won both games, 8-0, invoking the mercy rule in the fifth inning each time.
Corral was a combined 4-for-7 with two doubles. She and Shoemaker combined to go 6-for-7 with three RBI in the fifth inning of the nightcap.
The Lancers wasted no time getting control as they opened a 7-0 lead after two innings in the opener, scoring all seven runs with two outs. Lindsay Henry provided the big blow with an RBI double in the first after a crucial two-out error by the Royals extended the inning. She later put an end to the game with a walk-off double in the fifth.
For any team a 7-0 deficit after two is a steep mountain to climb, much less when you're trying to do it against the reigning GSAC Pitcher of the Year, and while the Lancer bats were giving ample support, Emma Holden was perfect in the circle.
Holden (26-1) retired all 15 batters she faced in her second five-inning perfect game of the season. She struck out nine of the 15 outs and is now just four strikeouts away from tying former Lancer Candice Thomas's career strikeout record of 601.
In fact, the Lancers retired the first 21 Royals they faced as Tory Ferreira worked a perfect first two innings in the nightcap. She gave up a leadoff single to Adi Lopez in the third, but Lopez was later caught stealing. Lopez also hit a two-out triple in the fifth but was left stranded. Those were the only Royal hits all day
April Vasquez gave the Lancers a 2-0 lead against Liz Gonzalez with a two-run homer to right in the second. It seemed as if that was all the Lancers might get against Gonzalez until they exploded in the fifth.
CBU sent 10 batters to the plate, getting seven of its 13 hits in the inning, including five in a row to finish it. Shoemaker had a two-RBI single to make it 5-0. Vasquez made it 6-0 with an RBI double. Corral and Kendall Gorham had back-to-back RBI singles to end it.
Ferreira (16-1) walked two and struck out three.
Henry finished the day with four hits, three of which were doubles, and three RBI. Gorham had three hits.
