California Baptist University
23-7, 6-3
Notre Dame de Namur
5-15, 4-11
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | Runs R | Hits H | Errors E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Baptist | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| Notre Dame de Namur | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
Only Five Needed
3/19/2016 5:17:00 PM | Softball
SAN MATEO, Calif. — Only five innings were needed in both games Saturday afternoon as No. 12-ranked California Baptist University racked up 26 runs for a pair of wins over Notre Dame de Namur. CBU won 9-0 and 17-2 for two mercy-rule victories over the Argonauts.
The Lancers improve to 24-7 overall, 7-3 in the PacWest, after going 8-0 on their Bay Area trip. The Argonauts drop to 5-16 on the year and 4-12 in conference.
Offense was on fire Saturday, posting 28 hits on the day, with multiple Lancers blasting five home runs.
London Miller got the offense going in the first game's second inning, drawing four balls for a free ticket to first. Hannah Thieroff then doubled to put the two Lancers in scoring position at third and second. Sarah Murphy then loaded up the bases by laying down a perfect bunt for an infield single.
Back-to-back singles with one out from Heather Smith and Jordan Mowatt plated two runners, before NDNU managed to get the second out. Jacque Lopez then walked in another run, 3-0, followed by Erin Burkhart sending in two more runners with a base hit to cap the scoring, 5-0.
Neither team could put together much in the third or fourth, but CBU brought out some more big bats in the fifth to take a commanding 9-0 lead.
With one out and a runner on first, Miller knocked the first home run of the day to put the Lancers in need of just one more run to threaten an eight-run rule win. They would get two more, however, as Soraya Shahbazian also rocketed a two-run homer to give CBU some insurance.
The Lancers wouldn't need it to secure their third-straight mercy-rule victory in five innings as Ashley Coleman struck out two Argonauts and Miller and Krista Mann caught another trying to steal second to end the game. Coleman only allowed three hits in her fifth shutout of the year, fourth in a row. She has not allowed a run in 26 innings.
After scoring nine runs in one game, CBU came out on fire in the nightcap and plated a staggering 10 runs in just one inning.
Miller got her second home run of the day in the top of the first with two runners on to put the Lancers in front 3-0 with only one out. Thieroff kept the inning going by walking and made her way to third on an NDNU error as Murphy joined her on base. The two then tagged up on Shahbazian's sacrifice fly to put CBU up 4-0. Mowatt kept the two-out rally going with an RBI single and Lopez found a gap for a three-run RBI to extend that lead to 8-0.
NDNU switched pitchers, but it didn't matter as CBU had more runs to be scored. Burkhart doubled to send Lopez home and came home on her own off a Thieroff double to cap the scoring, putting the Lancers up 10-0.
The Argonauts managed to plate two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but would need at least one more before the fifth inning finished to keep the game going.
CBU was determined not to let that happen, getting back its 10-run lead in the third as Mowatt stole home and Mann scored on a Lopez base hit. The Lancers then tacked on three more runs in the fourth off two home runs, including a Mann long ball and Halee Tracy two-run bomb to all but seal the victory, 16-2.
The Lancers then added one more for good measure in the fifth as Lopez singled to score Ali Subia from third.
Kayla Hatch and Kellye Springstead each threw stellar innings to give CBU the win with Hatch picking up her 10th victory of the year. The senior right-handed pitcher struck out two Argonauts, while the freshman relief pitcher threw four strikeouts and didn't allow a single hit.
CBU returns home to host three Hawaiian schools at John C. Funk Stadium. The Lancers first take on Chaminade on Friday for a pair of games beginning at 6:00 p.m., looking to keep the momentum going from this road trip.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Coleman, Ashley (9-2)
L: Reali, Shelby (3-10)
Batting:
2B: Thieroff, Hannah 1
HR: Miller, London 1 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 1
RBI: Lopez, Jacque 1 ; Burkhart, Erin 2 ; Miller, London 2 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 2 ; Smith, Heather 1 ; Mowatt, Jordan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Burkhart, Erin 1 ; Miller, London 2 ; Thieroff, Hannah 1 ; Hennessey, Nicole 1 ; Murphy, Sarah 1 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 1 ; Smith, Heather 1 ; Mowatt, Jordan 1
Base Running:
SB: Cardoza, Toni 1 ; Giannavola, Alessand 1 ; Gesler, Gianna 1
CS: Ortega, Melissa 1
