Softball Crushes Cal Lutheran in Game One, Loses Late Lead in Game Two
April 1, 2007

Complete Box Scores »» Game 1   Game 2

Cougar softball rebounded nicely from Saturday's rough games, looking focused and playing very efficient ball on Sunday against Cal Lutheran. CSUSM easily took game one by a score of 10-3, then came within an inning of completing the sweep before losing game two 3-1.

The team got off to a great start in game one, with the key performance coming from an unexpected source. Looking to shake things up, Coach Jen Milo decided to give Amanda Sanchez her first start of the season. Prior to Sunday, Sanchez had thrown just 5.2 innings on the season, so it was unclear what she was bringing to the table.

What she brought was great control and efficient pitching. While Sanchez was by no means overpowering, she continually challenged hitters and trusted the players behind her to make all the plays. The defense responded, turning in a very solid effort - and at the plate, they were even better.

Sanchez was tested early, as star hitter Prudence Kjontvedt greeted her with a leadoff triple, and Crystal Kincaid followed that up with a double to right. Though two runs crossed the plate in the inning, Sanchez was able to strand a pair of runners to keep the score at 2-0.

The Cougars would quickly answer with four runs of their own in the bottom of the frame. Cal Lutheran starter Kathryn Mataya lasted just 1/3 of an inning, as she struggled mightily with control. Though the Cougars got just one hit in the inning - a Danielle Tucker single - a combination of walks, hit batters, and a costly error made the score 4-2 at the end of the inning.

The difference in the game was that while the Cal Lutheran pitchers were never able to fully settle down, Sanchez did. She allowed just one hit over the next three innings, and by the time those innings were over, the game essentially was too.

That's because the Cougar offense came through with a 5-run fifth inning to blow the game open. After scoring once in the second thanks to aggressive Leilani Madrigal baserunning, the Cougars held a 5-2 lead entering the third. Pitcher Danielle Everson got two quick outs, but a seemingly harmless walk to Malarie Barnard proved to be just what the Cougars needed. Madrigal promptly singled up the middle, and Coelho slapped a base hit through the left side to load the bases for Danielle Tucker. Tucker, who has been on fire recently, hit a hard chopper off the pitcher's glove for an infield RBI single. That brought Tasha Stokes to the plate, who capped off the rally with a booming double to left-center that cleared the bases.

With the score 10-2, the Cougars were able to coast to a victory behind Sanchez's effective pitching. An unearned run crossed the plate in the fifth, but it didn't phase Sanchez, who even worked around a one-out triple in the 7th to close out the 10-3 victory. On the day, she pitched the full 7 innings, allowing 8 hits, 1 walk, and 2 earned runs. Aside from the 5th inning error, the Cougar defense was rock solid - and they needed to be, given that Sanchez didn't strike out a hitter. Barnard and Bush were particularly good, making key plays to prevent runs from scoring.

There were no such fireworks in game two, as fans were treated to a pitchers' duel between Cal Lutheran's Lizzy Chacon and CSUSM's Melissa Lerno.

It was certainly a contrast in styles. Chacon was crafty, working primarily up in the strike zone and inducing a huge number of pop-outs and fly-outs. She was pitching towards contact, as Chacon struck out just 3 and walked 2 in her 7 innings of work. She scattered 7 hits in allowing one earned run.

Meanwhile, Melissa Lerno was dominating, simply overpowering most of the Cal Lutheran lineup with her fastball. She struck out 9 over the course of the 7 innings, while walking 4.

For most of the game, neither lineup had any luck against the opposing pitcher, though both teams had opportunities. In the first, Cal Lutheran had runners on second and third with nobody out - but Lerno struck out the next two hitters, and induced a ground out to escape.

In the fourth, Danielle Tucker crushed a leadoff triple to start the inning for the Cougars. Tucker, a slap hitter who generally keeps the ball close to the ground, surprised everyone by drilling a 3-2 fastball to the gap in left-center. Holly Russell followed her up with a walk and steal of second, but the Cougars were unable to push across a run, as a fielder's choice, pop-up, and ground-out ended the inning.

Finally in the 6th, the Cougars broke through. The hard-hitting Russell laid down a bunt single to lead off the inning, and was advanced when the equally hard-hitting Tasha Stokes bunted her over. After the second out was made, Lerno came to the plate, and helped her own cause with a clutch RBI single to right.

The Cougars carried the tenuous 1-0 lead into the bottom of the 7th, where for the second day in a row they ran into trouble. After a leadoff single up the middle, the key play came when Lerno couldn't bring in a chopper hit at her by Shauna Cogan. That put runners on first and second with nobody out (as opposed to a runner on first with one out) for Kjontvedt, who slipped a single through the infield to tie the game. The go-ahead run then came in to score on a passed ball, and the final run of the inning scored on a Katy Wilkins single.

CSUSM would not go down without a fight, as a two-out walk to Tucker and double by Russell put the tying run at second for Stokes. Stokes crushed a ball to left, but the leftfielder was able to track it down to end the game, and deliver yet another heartbreaking loss to the Cougars.

Despite the disappointing result in game two, the Cougars still played excellent baseball on Sunday against an NCAA Division III team that was 12-5 on the year. CSUSM will look to keep playing quality ball on Tuesday, when they'll travel to take on Vanguard.