THOUSAND OAKS, CA. – The Pomona-Pitzer softball team swept Cal Lutheran University 5-0 and 8-7 on the road in a must-win series for the Sagehens. After the sweep, the Sagehens moved up from fourth place to third place in the SCIAC.
Season Impact: With the wins, the Sagehens are 20-11 overall and 9-6 in SCIAC conference play.
Game 1:
Devin Waddell, Bella Carreon, Jiselle Nguyen, and Morgan Groves led the Sagehens' offense. Waddell crushed her second home run of the series —a solo shot in the sixth—and went 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Carreon came up big in the fifth inning with a clutch 2-RBI double to left, finishing 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a walk. Nguyen went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Groves was consistent at the plate, going 3-for-4 and scoring twice. Nyla Springer was dominant in the circle once again, tossing a complete-game shutout and only giving up four hits and notching one strikeout. Springer is now 8-3 when pitching.
The Sagehens jumped out in front in the top of the second after stringing together four hits, including RBI singles from J. Nguyen and Waddell to take a 2–0 lead. In the fifth, they tacked on two more runs when Carreon doubled in Groves and Hurtado to make it 4–0. Waddell added the exclamation point in the sixth, launching a deep home run over the left field fence to extend the lead to 5–0. This was Waddell's 14th home run on the season, she is currently tied for second in home runs in all of Division III.
The Sagehen's pitching and defense were lights out, holding the Regals to just four hits and keeping them off the scoreboard. Cal Lutheran threatened in the third and seventh innings but stranded multiple runners each time.
Game 2:
Violet Burnham, Kylie Liu, Sophia Roberts, Morgan Groves, and Bella Carreon powered the Sagehens' offense in their 8–7 win over Cal Lutheran. Burnham got things rolling early with a 2-run homer in the first, going 1-for-4 with two RBIs. Liu was a spark in the lineup all game, finishing 3-for-3 with two doubles, two RBIs, and a walk. Roberts stayed hot at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored. Groves went 2-for-2 with two walks and Carreon was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI. Mia Lopez got her second start of the season and pitched 1.1 innings. Lopez was replaced by Audrey Reimers who pitched 1.2 innings until Devin Waddell threw the final four innings in relief, earning the save and striking out three. Reimers picked up the win in the circle and now has a 2-1 record when on the mound.
The Sagehens came out strong in the top of the first. After a two-out single from Liu, Burnham launched a two-run shot to left to make it 2–0. The Regals put up two runs of their own in the bottom of the first, making the score 2-2 heading into the top of the second. The Sagehens responded right away, tacking on three more runs starting with a walk drawn by Carreon, followed by a double by Roberts, a walk by Waddell, and finally highlighted by a Liu 2-RBI double. The Regals put up one run in the third and the score remained 5-3 til Roberts added an RBI single in the third to stretch the lead to 6–3. The Regals answered back throughout the game, chipping away at the deficit. A 2-RBI single in the third and a rally in the sixth brought them within one run, but the Sagehens' added their lead in the fifth thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles from Carreon and Roberts, pushing the score to 8–5. Cal Lutheran fought back in the sixth with two runs, making the score 8-7 but Waddell shut the door in the seventh to secure the win.
Up Next: The Sagehens will play across the street to take on sixth street rival CMS on April 25th at 3:00 pm. This will be the first game of the three game series.
