200 And Counting

Friday, February 12

St. George, Utah

11:30 am

California Baptist University

7-1

Western Washington

4-3

California Baptist

Western Washington

Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez

2/12/2016 10:06:00 PM | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2 Box Score 3

By: Sammi Sheppard, Director of Sports Information

ST. GEORGE, Utah — With another weekend full of games at the Dixie State Tournament, California Baptist University looked to keep to its winning ways. The Lancers dominated the competition, grabbing three victories Friday.

The wins move CBU to 9-1 on the year with two more games Saturday. The Lancers defeated Western Washington 7-0 to open the day and give Coach Bill Baber his 200th victory as a head coach, with 175 of those coming at the helm of the Lancers. CBU followed with a 2-0 victory over Western New Mexico and a 9-1 mercy-rule win over Montana State-Billings.

"Today feels really good, especially after losing the last game at the Desert Stinger Tournament," said Baber. "We're playing well, we just need to stay focused. Last week we didn't finish our five, so this week we need to finish it. WWU is a good team and we get to play them again."

While the Lancers out-scored their opponents 17-1, it was defense that really stole the show for Baber.

"Our pitchers (Kayla Hatch, Kellye Springstead and Ashley Coleman) really did fantastic today," said Baber. "We only gave up one run, which really came down to one pitch, on the day. Our defense did a good job behind them."

Krista Mann led things off with a base hit and put the Lancers on the board first after Hannah Thieroff grabbed an RBI single. WWU managed to find out No. 2, but CBU wasn't done scoring.

With runners on first and second, Soraya Shahbazian singled deep to right to send Thieroff home for a 2-0 edge. There was even more in store, though, as Ali Subia knocked a double to left center, scoring two more runners before WWU could end the inning.

"We jumped on WWU pretty quick," said Baber. "We wanted to set the tone."

The Lancers added some insurance — not that they needed it — in the second, as Jordan Mowatt led off with a double to left. Mann traded places with her by hitting a double of her own and came home on an Erin Burkhart base hit, giving CBU its 6-0 lead it would keep to win the game.

"Erin was unbelievable today," said Baber of his catcher who went 8-for-9 at the plate with four runs scored, two more batted in, and two walks.

With one win under their belt, the Lancers looked to keep it going but found themselves in a battle in game two.

CBU didn't score until the bottom of the fourth when London Miller sacrificed a fly to center field and Burkhart tagged up at third to score.

"It was good to see London back in the lineup today," said Baber.

The Lancers tacked on another run in the fifth, this time with Burkhart picking up the RBI. With Mowatt on second, Burkhart drilled a base hit to center to give Mowatt the green light to score.

"That second game was a real battle," said Baber. "We just couldn't get a key hit to break it open."

Despite the lower number of runs in the second game, CBU made up for it in the finale.

"We really turned right around and came out swinging," said Baber.

After blasting four homers last weekend, it was only a matter of time before the Lancers found their power once again. Mann and Thieroff each knocked long balls in the first inning to give CBU an early 3-0 lead.

The Yellowjackets broke the scoreless streak CBU had built up on the day with a home run of their own in the top of the second, but the Lancers responded with another big inning in the bottom half of the inning.

Once again, Mann led off with a base hit and was joined on base by Sarah Murphy (walk) and Burkhart (single). Thieroff drew ball four to walk in the first run and Jacque Lopez singled to send in another.

With bases still loaded and no outs, Miller found a gap to make it 6-1 and Subia took a pitch to the body to make it 7-1 and force a pitching change. It worked as MSUB was able to retire the next three batters in order.

Just two runs away from their seventh eight-run rule win of the year, Lopez walked in one run with just one out. The Yellowjackets managed to grab another out, but not before Subia sealed the short victory with a walk off walk, making it 9-1 in just five innings.

CBU concludes the tournament Saturday with a game against Western Oregon (11:30 a.m.) and another matchup with WWU at 4:30 p.m. The Lancers return to Funk Stadium next week, hosting Adelphi on Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. and Saturday at 12:00 p.m.