THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Pacific Lutheran opened a brutal stretch
of nine games in five days by walloping host Cal Lutheran in a pair
of non-conference softball games on Tuesday afternoon.
The Lutes (12-5) won the opener, 10-2, and took the second game,
11-0, in five innings.
In the opener, PLU pounded out 14 hits and did not commit an
error, while Cal Lutheran (9-15) managed seven hits and committed
five errors. Those errors led to five of the runs being unearned.
The Lutes scored three runs in the second, fifth and sixth
innings and added the final tally in the seventh. Katie Hansen
stroked a run-scoring double in the second and two runs scored on
Cal Lutheran errors. The fifth-inning rally started with two outs,
and the initial two runs of the frame scored on an error. Glenelle Nitta, who had two hits in the game, drove in the third run with a
single. One inning later, Caitlin Brown drove in a run with one of
her two singles, Kaaren Hatlen drove in the second with a ground
out, and Lauren Watson plated the final tally with one of her three
singles. Haley Harshaw hit a triple and scored on an error to
finish the scoring in the seventh.
Joining Brown, Watson and Nitta in the multiple-hit column was
Monti Califano, who had a single and triple.
Ally VanSchoorl, who came into the game in the fourth inning in
relief of starter Stacey Hagensen, pitched the final four innings
to pick up the victory. She allowed no runs on three hits while
walking one.
In the second contest, the Lutes took advantage of seven hits
and a crucial Cal Lutheran error to score nine runs in the third
inning.
PLU got on the board in the first on Aubree Pocklington's RBI
infield single and then did its major damage in the third. Watson
hit a two-run single, Ramona Lorton had a two-run double
and Amber Roberts added a run-scoring single before Brown
capped the burst with a grand slam home run.
Califano drove in PLU's final run with a double in the fifth
inning. Of PLU's 11 runs, only four were earned.
Brown finished the game with two hits and four RBI, while Watson
and Kaely Cuthill both added a pair of hits.
Lorton was the winning pitcher, allowing only two hits in four
innings. Hatlen allowed a base hit in one inning of mop up work.
Pacific Lutheran returns to action tomorrow afternoon when it
faces the Redlands Bulldogs in another non-conference doubleheader.
The Lutes conclude their brief California road trip with a single
seven-inning game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Thursday before
returning to the Northwest to face host Willamette in a four-game
Northwest Conference series.
- PLU -
