Cruz walks it off to secure pitching duel doubleheader split
ORANGE, Calif. – In a day where runs came at a premium, both games were decided on late inning heroics. Taylor Cruz was the hero for the Chapman University softball team with a walkoff single in the late game to win 2-1. The visiting Alfred University Saxons took the first game 3-1.
Game 1 – L, 3-1
Pitching ruled the day. Both days had to scratch and claw their way across the plate to gain any advantage. The first game started with a solid five inning start from Jillian Kelly. She issued just one walk and struck out three while scattering five hits.
A double and an error in the outfield put a runner on third for Alfred in the third. Jessica Remm followed with a grounder that just snuck past a diving Bella Leach at third base to bring the first run home.
The Panthers answered in the fifth when Miranda Murphy doubled and Sam Kennedy followed with a single into center. Both Kennedy and Murphy finished the game with two hits to bookend the lineup. Shea Higa tapped a roller down the first base line that was enough to allow Murphy to sprint home for the tying run.
Rose Malen entered with a 1-2-3 inning in the third but ran into trouble after a three-base error put the go-ahead run on third with one out. A triple and single followed to plate the two deciding runs before a double play ended the inning.
Murphy and Kennedy combined to put runners on second and third with two outs before Arden Hatch closed the book on the complete game victory. She scattered six hits and struck out a pair of Panthers.
Game 2 – W, 2-1
Another pitcher's duel quickly reached the seventh inning as neither team could find a way to get on the board. Izzy Epstein was brilliant in the circle. She pitched into the sixth and retired 13 of the first 14 batters se faced. After giving up a pair of hits in the sixth, Simi Lauwers took over in the circle and pitched her way out of the jam.
Epstein struck out five and allowed just three hits without issuing a walk. Lauwers struck out three in 1.2 inning while allowing one run on two hits in the seventh. The pair combined to throw 63 strikes on 76 pitches – a strike rate of 83 percent.
Megan Bennett was equal to the challenge. She cruised through the first few innings and then worked her way out of a jam in the fourth when the Panthers had runners on second and third with no outs. Mia Reyes had beaten out an infield single and Summer Lake followed with a double. Bennett helped herself with some fancy glovework to cut down the go-ahead run at the plate on an attempted squeeze and wiggled her way out of the jam to keep the game scoreless.
Chapman again put runners on second and third in the fifth inning but again came up empty. Bennett ended the game with nine strikeouts and no walks.
Bella Orozco put Alfred on top in the seventh with a single that hopped over the bag at third. Ella Milante led off the bottom half of the seventh with a double into right and went to third on a groundout. Murphy followed with a first pitch single right back up the middle to tie the game.
After Kennedy was hit by a pitch and Reyes beat out a bunt, Janet Lloyd dipped into her bench to call on Cruz in the crucial moment. She dropped a single into shallow right center to bring home Murphy and secure the twinbill split for Chapman.
Due to rain in the forecast on Friday, Chapman will now host Buena Vista tomorrow at 2 p.m. instead of the originally schedule Saturday contest. The Panthers still host Manhattanville on Thursday at 2 p.m. as well.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director
Become a fan of Chapman Athletics on Facebook
Follow Chapman Athletics on Twitter @ChapmanSports
Post your #PantherPic to Instagram @ChpmanSports