Top-ranked Linfield overwhelms Chapman to sweep doubleheader

ORANGE, Calif. – Against top-ranked Linfield College, the Chapman University softball team committed six errors and gave up 25 runs over the course of two games as they were swept in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at El Camino Real Park. Linfield used a six-run fourth inning to take command of the first game for a 10-2 victory. In the second game, Linfield scored 11 runs in the first two innings as they would go on to the 15-2 victory.  The Wildcats have now won five games in a row against the Panthers dating back to 2007.

Game 1: Linfield 10, Chapman 2
After a leadoff single and a Chapman fielding error, Linfield (13-2) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run double by junior IF Staci Doucette. The junior had 2 RBI in the first game and a total of five on the afternoon.

In the third inning, junior OF Andrena Calix led off with a single and then advanced to second base on an error by the centerfielder. Junior C Michelle Pitts then brought Calix home with a single up the middle to narrow the score to 2-1.

The game fell apart for Chapman in the fourth inning as Linfield capitalized on three errors in the inning to score six runs on five hits. The big hits of the inning for Linfield were a two-run double by Karleigh Prestianni and an inside the park home run by senior OF Kayla Hubrich which scored three more runs. Hubrich had four RBI in the game. Of the Wildcats 10 runs in the game, four were unearned.

Game 2: Linfield 15, Chapman 2
In the second game, Linfield pounded out 13 runs and 12 hits in the first three innings to take a commanding 13-0 lead highlighted by a three-run homer by Doucette in the second inning. Junior C Emilee Lepp added a two-run homer for Linfield in the third inning.

Chapman (7-15) got on the board in the fifth inning with a two-run single to right field by Pitts which scored junior OF Jayme Jarvis and Calix who reached on a single. Calix finished 2-for-3 in the game with a pair of singles and a run scored and had three hits on the afternoon while Pitts was also 2-for-3.

by Chris Watts
Sports Information Assistant

Boxscores
Game 1: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2010-11/boxscores/20110319_jzjx.xml

Game 2: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2010-11/boxscores/20110319_dfp9.xml