Saturday, March 26
Riverside, Calif.
3:00 PM
California Baptist University
8-20, 0
10
vs
2
Chaminade
28-6, 0
1
2
3
4
5
R
H
E
Chaminade
0
2
0
0
0
2
4
4
California Baptist
1
7
0
2
X
10
11
1
Photo by: Jacob Gonzalez
Packing A Punch
3/26/2016 6:47:00 PM | Softball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — No. 11-ranked California Baptist University continued to pack a punch on offense Saturday, beating Chaminade 9-1 and 10-2, both in five innings.
With the series sweep, CBU improves to 28-6 overall, 11-3 in the PacWest, and extends its unbeaten streak to 12 consecutive games, with eight-straight mercy-rule victories. Chaminade drops to 8-20 on the year, 4-14 in conference.
Over the course of the four games, all nine starters batted over .360. Sarah Murphy led the charge with a 7-for-10 performance over the weekend, including a 4-for-5 showing at the plate Saturday.
"That's amazing," said Coach Bill Baber about his team's offensive performance. "We're really hitting well. Hopefully they keep it up."
The Lancers only scored one run in the bottom of the first, as Krista Mann led off with a stand-up double and stole third. She then tagged up on a fly ball to put CBU in front 1-0 early.
Chaminade tried to find a response in the top of the second, leading off with a single. The Silversword was hoping for a double, but Murphy wouldn't let her grab an extra base, tossing the ball to second for the out.
"Sarah has been really impressive," said Baber. "She's really limiting other team's doubles."
CBU came alive in the fourth, scoring seven runs on seven hits and one Chaminade error. After Erin Burkhart and London Miller each singled aboard, Hannah Thieroff blasted a home run over the fence in left field, 4-0. Murphy laid down a perfect bunt for a base hit and stole second, before Soraya Shahbazian sent her home on a base hit to right.
The Silverswords switched pitchers and got two outs, but it didn't seem to matter. With runners on second and first, Jacque Lopez found a gap in right field to score Ali Subia and Mann came home on an error. Burkhart picked up another RBI, sending Lopez in from second to give CBU a commanding 8-0 edge.
"Great teams score with two outs," said Baber. "You can't get down. Our girls go up to the plate thinking, 'It's ok if no one is on base and there's two outs. I'll get it started.'
"Once someone gets things started, everyone jumps in. That will come in handy once we play the top of the conference."
In the top of the fifth, Chaminade kept the game alive briefly by plating a run on two hits and an error to bring the margin under the eight-run rule mark.
The Lancers weren't going to let the game go much longer, getting back the run they gave up in the top of the inning. With no outs and bases loaded, Subia knocked a hard hit to short stop. The Silversword kept the ball in front, but couldn't get the throw off at home as CBU scored to take the game 9-1 in five innings.
Like they did in the opener, the Lancers scored the first run of the day, but soon saw themselves trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the second.
Once again, CBU dug deep and got its runs back and then some. Murphy led the inning off with a single and made her way to third. Shahbazian sent her home with a shot that went off third base to stay fair. Subia walked to join Shahbazian on base and the pair moved to scoring position, but with two outs on the board.
Lopez doubled to score two and Burkhart followed with an RBI single down the right field line. With two runners on, Thieroff doubled to allow Burkhart to score, before Miller took advantage of the Silversword defense sleeping to make it 7-2. In her second time at the plate in the inning, Murphy singled deep to center to send Thieroff in for some insurance.
"I was impressed we didn't get fazed by them going up on us," said Baber. "We have confidence that we'll score runs. Even with two outs, we score a lot of runs. It doesn't matter. They trust each other and just string hits together."
Looking to grab its 17th mercy-rule win, CBU headed into the bottom of the fourth wanting some more runs. The Silverswords grabbed two quick outs, but Thieroff walked to put another offensive run together. Nicole Hennessey took over the running and proceeded to steal second. Murphy sent her home by turning on a pitch and sending it straight up the middle. Murphy scored the 10th and final run of the day by taking advantage of three Chaminade errors in one play.
With a 10-2 lead, Kayla Hatch and the Lancer defense took down the Silverswords in the top of the fifth to seal the mercy-rule victory.
CBU gets just one day to rest before taking on Hawaii-Hilo — which is tied for first in the PacWest with Dixie State (13-3) — on Monday at 5:00 p.m. The Lancers then get a breather, hosting Hawaii Pacific on April 6, also at 5:00 p.m.
"We'll finish our games on Monday and get a nice little break," said Baber. "We'll be ready to go Monday."
With the series sweep, CBU improves to 28-6 overall, 11-3 in the PacWest, and extends its unbeaten streak to 12 consecutive games, with eight-straight mercy-rule victories. Chaminade drops to 8-20 on the year, 4-14 in conference.
Over the course of the four games, all nine starters batted over .360. Sarah Murphy led the charge with a 7-for-10 performance over the weekend, including a 4-for-5 showing at the plate Saturday.
"That's amazing," said Coach Bill Baber about his team's offensive performance. "We're really hitting well. Hopefully they keep it up."
The Lancers only scored one run in the bottom of the first, as Krista Mann led off with a stand-up double and stole third. She then tagged up on a fly ball to put CBU in front 1-0 early.
Chaminade tried to find a response in the top of the second, leading off with a single. The Silversword was hoping for a double, but Murphy wouldn't let her grab an extra base, tossing the ball to second for the out.
"Sarah has been really impressive," said Baber. "She's really limiting other team's doubles."
CBU came alive in the fourth, scoring seven runs on seven hits and one Chaminade error. After Erin Burkhart and London Miller each singled aboard, Hannah Thieroff blasted a home run over the fence in left field, 4-0. Murphy laid down a perfect bunt for a base hit and stole second, before Soraya Shahbazian sent her home on a base hit to right.
The Silverswords switched pitchers and got two outs, but it didn't seem to matter. With runners on second and first, Jacque Lopez found a gap in right field to score Ali Subia and Mann came home on an error. Burkhart picked up another RBI, sending Lopez in from second to give CBU a commanding 8-0 edge.
"Great teams score with two outs," said Baber. "You can't get down. Our girls go up to the plate thinking, 'It's ok if no one is on base and there's two outs. I'll get it started.'
"Once someone gets things started, everyone jumps in. That will come in handy once we play the top of the conference."
In the top of the fifth, Chaminade kept the game alive briefly by plating a run on two hits and an error to bring the margin under the eight-run rule mark.
The Lancers weren't going to let the game go much longer, getting back the run they gave up in the top of the inning. With no outs and bases loaded, Subia knocked a hard hit to short stop. The Silversword kept the ball in front, but couldn't get the throw off at home as CBU scored to take the game 9-1 in five innings.
Like they did in the opener, the Lancers scored the first run of the day, but soon saw themselves trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom of the second.
Once again, CBU dug deep and got its runs back and then some. Murphy led the inning off with a single and made her way to third. Shahbazian sent her home with a shot that went off third base to stay fair. Subia walked to join Shahbazian on base and the pair moved to scoring position, but with two outs on the board.
Lopez doubled to score two and Burkhart followed with an RBI single down the right field line. With two runners on, Thieroff doubled to allow Burkhart to score, before Miller took advantage of the Silversword defense sleeping to make it 7-2. In her second time at the plate in the inning, Murphy singled deep to center to send Thieroff in for some insurance.
"I was impressed we didn't get fazed by them going up on us," said Baber. "We have confidence that we'll score runs. Even with two outs, we score a lot of runs. It doesn't matter. They trust each other and just string hits together."
Looking to grab its 17th mercy-rule win, CBU headed into the bottom of the fourth wanting some more runs. The Silverswords grabbed two quick outs, but Thieroff walked to put another offensive run together. Nicole Hennessey took over the running and proceeded to steal second. Murphy sent her home by turning on a pitch and sending it straight up the middle. Murphy scored the 10th and final run of the day by taking advantage of three Chaminade errors in one play.
With a 10-2 lead, Kayla Hatch and the Lancer defense took down the Silverswords in the top of the fifth to seal the mercy-rule victory.
CBU gets just one day to rest before taking on Hawaii-Hilo — which is tied for first in the PacWest with Dixie State (13-3) — on Monday at 5:00 p.m. The Lancers then get a breather, hosting Hawaii Pacific on April 6, also at 5:00 p.m.
"We'll finish our games on Monday and get a nice little break," said Baber. "We'll be ready to go Monday."
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hatch, Kayla (11-2)
L: Camello, Chelsea (3-9)
Batting:
HR: Passi, Keani 1
RBI: Passi, Keani 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Matsuoka, Rainelle 1 ; Passi, Keani 1
HBP: Betian, Jenn 2
Batting:
2B: Mann, Krista 1 ; Lopez, Jacque 1 ; Miller, London 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 1
RBI: Lopez, Jacque 2 ; Burkhart, Erin 1 ; Miller, London 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 1 ; Murphy, Sarah 2 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 1
SH: Mann, Krista 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mann, Krista 1 ; Lopez, Jacque 1 ; Burkhart, Erin 1 ; Miller, London 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 1 ; Hennessey, Nicole 1 ; Murphy, Sarah 2 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 1 ; Subia, Ali 1
SB: Hennessey, Nicole 1 ; Murphy, Sarah 1 ; Subia, Ali 1
HBP: Subia, Ali 1
PO: Subia, Ali 1
Game Leaders
AB
3
R
2
H
3
RBI
2
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
C/1B
/ Softball
P
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
2B/SS
/ SoftballSS
/ SoftballC/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
1B/3B
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