California Baptist University
21-19, 8-3
Utah Valley
14-18, 8-4
Lancers Connect On A Record 31 Hits To Sweep Utah Valley On Friday
4/5/2024 7:54:00 PM | Softball
OREM, UTAH - Despite battling winter conditions in Utah on Friday, the California Baptist softball team's bats were blazing hot in a doubleheader sweep of Utah Valley. CBU set a new program record for hits in a single day with 31, edging the previous record of 30 set against Utah Tech (then Dixie State) on March 26, 2021.
The wins improve CBU to 22-19 overall and 9-3 in the Western Athletic Conference, taking second place from UVU and trailing first place Grand Canyon by one and a half games.
The Lancers' first game hit total of 16 matched the second most in a single game in the Division I era. The record remains with the 2023 squad, who connected 18 times against Tarleton State in a 13-2 rout of the Texans. Among those hits were four more extra-base hits from Kayla Lyon (three doubles and a home run), officially giving her more extra-base hits (25) than singles (24), a very difficult stat line to accomplish. Lyon's 7-8 day at the plate skyrocketed her season average to .415, becoming the first Lancer in the DI era to have a batting average over .400 this late in the season.
GAME ONE: CBU 16 - UVU 10
Friday's opener saw crooked numbers in every inning except for the second. The Wolverines jumped to an early 2-0 lead in the first, getting to starter Presley Hosick early but not rattling her as she followed that up with three scoreless innings where she allowed just three hits. Hosick's teammates picked her up not long after, as Kayla Lyon smacked her first of three RBI hits on the day to level the score at two apiece. The Lancers followed that up by exploding for eight runs in the fourth on seven hits, two of which were home runs from Maya Avila and Lyon.
After that Lancer offensive outburst, though, something clicked with the Wolverines as they retaliated with a seven-run frame of their own in the bottom of the fifth to not just stave off the run rule, but get right back into the game as a whole. CBU got the immediate response they needed in the next at-bat as freshman Kate Penberthy sent the fourth pitch of her at-bat over the left field wall to start taking back the cushion they had built. Borkowski added another two-RBI hit later in the inning to push the lead back to a more comfortable margin of 15-9.
Morgan McConnell came in to pitch in the bottom of the sixth and held the Wolverines scoreless when CBU needed her to. Both teams would score one more run each in the seventh inning, but they didn't affect the outcome, as CBU won by a score of 16-10. Hosick would eventually earn the win, her seventh of the season, while maintaining a staff-best 2.64 ERA.
GAME TWO: CBU 8 - UVU 0 (SIX INNINGS)
The second game started as a near statistical opposite from game one, with the exception of the hits. Though they weren't converting early, CBU racked up five hits in the first three innings. Things shifted in the fourth when the Lancers finally began getting that extra hit they needed to bring home base runners. The fifth inning saw three more runs score to make it a 5-0 game. Finally, CBU plated another trio of runs in the sixth on consecutive singles from Lyon, Kalena Burns, and Penberthy to make it an eight-run advantage in favor of the Lancers.
McConnell, who tossed the final two innings of game one, went the distance in game two to secure her seventh complete game of the year. However, she had to earn it in the sixth as UVU opened the frame with a double and a walk. McConnell pitched to contact, though, and induced a grounder to third, where her defense picked her up and turned the double play. She completed the victory by forcing a lazy groundout to third for her seventh win of the season.
The series finale is set for Saturday morning at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Hosick, Presley (7-4)
L: Armendariz, Payge (2-3)
Batting:
2B: Borkowski, Merissa 1 ; Lyon, Kayla 2 ; Martinez, Maya 2
HR: Lyon, Kayla 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 1 ; Avila, Maya 1
RBI: Borkowski, Merissa 5 ; Annett, Ashlee 2 ; Lyon, Kayla 3 ; Burns, Kalena 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 1 ; Avila, Maya 3
Base Running:
RUNS: Borkowski, Merissa 2 ; Estrada , Priscilla 1 ; Lyon, Kayla 2 ; Crawford, Cayla 1 ; Penberthy, Kate 2 ; Avila, Maya 1 ; Severns, Matti 1 ; Martinez, Maya 3 ; Soto, Sydney 1 ; Pratt, Bobbiann 2
Batting:
2B: Morris, Halle 1 ; Armendariz, Payge 2
HR: Gibbs, Megan 1
RBI: Rodriguez, Amber 1 ; Morris, Halle 3 ; Gibbs, Megan 3 ; Nielsen, Saige 1 ; Brown, Rachael 1 ; Garrison, Mikayla 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Rodriguez, Amber 2 ; Binne, Ry 2 ; Hawker, Libbie 1 ; Gibbs, Megan 1 ; Armendariz, Payge 1 ; Higareda, Mya 1 ; Hall, Peyton 1 ; Moreno, Britney 1
SB: Mann, Angelique 1
HBP: Mann, Angelique 1
