California Baptist University
16-3
Saint Thomas (Fla.)
1-8
Pouring It On
3/10/2018 2:11:00 PM | Softball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Trying to beat out the looming rain, California Baptist University kept momentum rolling Saturday morning and beat St. Thomas University of Florida 13-2 in five innings. It was supposed to be another double-header, but the second game was canceled following the first game due to the weather.
The Lancers finished their nine game home stand unblemished and improved to 16-3 on the year. The NAIA Bobcats drop to 1-8 overall.
"I thought we did a really good job staying focused," said head coach Bill Baber. "It was raining so much this morning, we didn't think we'd get the game in. It's hard to stay focused with that, but I thought the girls really came out and played hard."
Stellar defense continued to carry over into offense as the Lancers out-hit the Bobcats 15-to-2, a new season-high in hits for CBU. Hannah Thieroff and Ali Subia led CBU with three hits on the day, including two home runs from Thieroff and one from Subia.
The Lancers wasted no time in the first inning, scoring two runs in just their second chance at the plate. With Caitlyn Lloyd already on base after drawing a walk, Cheyann Tucker cashed in on her first CBU career home run to put CBU up 2-0 early in the game.
Thieroff caught the home-run bug shortly after Tucker in the first inning, turning on a pitch for a solo shot, as the Lancers jumped out to a 3-0 lead.
"We were just really excited to be able to get one game in at least," said Thieroff. "We knew that the chances of even finishing a game were slim so we had to come out hard and that's what we did and I'm really proud of us."
Junior pitcher Iveth Alvarado picked up her second win of the season, tying her season-high with five strikeouts, only giving up two hits and two runs.
The bats were still hot in the first inning as Halle Rosario singled to left field and brought in another run to give CBU a 4-0 commanding lead.
In the bottom of the second, CBU loaded up the bases and cashed in a run on a throwing error from St. Thomas. Soraya Shahbazian then sacrificed a fly ball to score another, 6-0, before the Bobcats threatened to end the inning with a second out. Thieroff (single) and Subia (double) sparked a two-out rally, allowing Manoa Weijgertse, Rosario and Anise Avalos to send runners home, making the score 10-0.
"I'm proud to see everyone just stepping up and doing their job, getting some hits and not thinking twice about it," added Thieroff.
St. Thomas got some hope as it scored two runs in the top of the third to cut the margin to 10-8.
The Lancers would put the game away in the bottom half of the frame, however, as Thieroff connected on her second homer of the game, bringing in two runners with her to make the score 13-2.
"Winning is contagious," added Baber as CBU has now won 11 consecutive games. "We had a really good week, took care of business like we had talked about and we know have some tough games in Hawaii coming up, but I think they really got prepared. We have momentum and a lot of confidence going into the trip."
The Lancers hit the road for a week, heading to Hawaii for six games, starting at Hawaii-Hilo on Monday. CBU returns home to John C. Funk Stadium on March 31 when it hosts Concordia University of Irvine for a doubleheader at noon.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Alvarado, Iveth (2-0)
L: Brandi Bunker (0-4)
Batting:
2B: McKenna Delaware 1
RBI: Melody Grafals 1 ; Alexis Castroman 1
SH: Nanet Manieri 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Alexis Castroman 1 ; McKenna Delaware 1
Batting:
2B: Subia, Ali 2 ; Weijgertse, Manoa 1 ; Avalos, Anise 1
HR: Tucker, Cheyann 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 2 ; Subia, Ali 1
RBI: Tucker, Cheyann 2 ; Shahbazian, Soraya 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 3 ; Subia, Ali 1 ; Weijgertse, Manoa 1 ; Rosario, Halle 2 ; Avalos, Anise 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Lloyd, Caitlyn 2 ; Tucker, Cheyann 1 ; Gomez, Diana 1 ; Thieroff, Hannah 3 ; Subia, Ali 3 ; Weijgertse, Manoa 1 ; Rosario, Halle 1 ; Springstead, Amanda 1
CS: Rosario, Halle 1
