Whalen smacks four hits, Wong homers in losses to No. 7 Berry

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University softball team fell 8-5 and 11-3 to seventh-ranked Berry on Tuesday. The Vikings (11-3) were the second consecutive top-10 opponent for the Panthers.

Game 1 – L, 8-5

Senior Samantha Whalen went 3-for-3 and was on base all four times she came to the plate in the loss to Berry. Whalen walked, roped two singles and smashed a two-run triple to left center in the seventh inning. Junior Heaven Wong became the first Panther to go deep this season with a towering 2-run homer to right center.

Berry jumped on top early with an error-aided run in the first. They manufactured two more runs with a squeeze bunt and a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0 in the second. Brooke Whittemore roped a two-run double in the third to make it 5-0.

With two outs in the third, junior Sarah Sumida drew a walk and Wong followed with her opposite field homer. However, those would be the only two runs the Panthers would score against Meredith Holland as she allowed just two runs on three hits to get the win.

Freshman Mykala Tokunaga took over in the circle in the third inning and tossed the final four and two-thirds, including 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and sixth. The Vikings were able to score three insurance runs, which became the difference after Chapman's seventh inning rally.

Junior Samantha Tong singled in a run in the seventh and Whalen's triple scored two more to make it 8-5.

Game 2 – L, 11-3

The Vikings continued to swing a hot bat, scoring 11 runs on 11 more hits. The visitors rallied for two in the third, five in the fifth and the final four runs in the seventh.

With eight new players in the lineup, Chapman scattered around 10 hits in the game but didn't manage to bring around a run until the fifth inning when freshman Allie Tajii tripled in classmate Tracie Okumura. Tajii and Okumura made the most of their opportunity to start, combining for five hits and a walk.

Tajii went 3-for-4, including her RBI-triple in the fifth and a run-scoring single in the seventh. Okumura singled and doubled in her first two at-bats to go 2-for-3 and scored twice.

Down 11-1, the Panthers rallied again in the seventh, scoring twice on Tajii's two-single and again on an error.

The Panthers will look to end their four-game slide tomorrow with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Alfred.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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