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Kelly Warren’s debut as CSUSM
Head Softball Coach was successful on Saturday, as the Cougars (1-1)
earned a split with perennially-strong GSAC foe Biola University
(1-1). The Cougars dropped a hard-fought game one 6-4, but rebounded
on the strength of ace Melissa Lerno to win game two 2-1.
Playing on their home field at Mission Hills High, the Cougar
softball squad showed the kind of improvement that was expected as
the team entered its second year of competition.
On Saturday, game one got off to a wild start, with Biola jumping
out to an early 6-0 lead off CSUSM starter Chanel Rose. The Eagles
plated one run in the first, then piled on five more in the second
on the strength of three extra-base hits.
But the Cougars wouldn’t go quietly. CSUSM roared back with a
three-run second inning of its own. Three consecutive one-out
singles by Elizabeth Bush, Erica Coelho, and Holly Russell got the
ball rolling, and, with the help of an error, Lindsey Preovolos and
Shanti Poston were able to plate all three runs.
The 6-3 score would hold up through the sixth, as Cougar reliever
Ashley Salvino came in and shut Biola down for the remainder of the
game. In the seventh, Coelho came through again, this time with a
triple. She was able to score on an error by the shortstop, making
the game 6-4. CSUSM would bring the tying run to the plate with no
outs, but were unable to capitalize.
Still, the Cougar women showed plenty of heart in defeat, rallying
back from the kind of deficit that often led to the mercy rule being
invoked last season.
In game two, that heart would lead to a win. It was tested early, as
usually-unhittable Melissa Lerno surrendered a one-out double to
Sarah Jensen in the first. Jensen was promptly singled home, and
CSUSM already faced a 1-0 deficit.
But Lerno would settle down and pitch the kind of game we’ve come to
expect of her. She went all 7 innings, scattering 7 hits and 1 walk
while striking out 6. The first inning run would be the only one she
allowed.
Meanwhile, the Cougar offense gave Lerno the support she needed to
get the win. Power-hitting Marly Barth led off the second with a
double; and after being sacrificed over by Tasha Stokes, pinch
runner Shanti Poston was able to beat a throw home to tie the game
at one.
The Cougars would pull ahead in the fourth. Lauren Nelson knocked a
one-out double to right-center, and Mimi Krutein followed that up
with a double of her own to left. That made the game 2-1, and though
the Cougars would get nothing else off Biola pitcher Kristin Larson,
Lerno wouldn’t need any more run support. She stranded a runner on
first in the seventh and final inning to secure the win.
It’s a nice start to the season for San Marcos, and Coach Warren &
Co. will look to build on it tomorrow, when the Cougars will be back
at home to take on La Sierra.
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