One-hitters highlight Panthers' sweep of St. Kate

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University softball team got a boost from its starting pitching on Saturday afternoon with a pair of one-hitters and 21 strikeouts against visiting St. Catherine University (Minn.), beating the Wildcats 8-0 and 4-1 at El Camino Real Park. After a leadoff single in Game 1, St. Catherine didn’t get another hit off Chapman pitching until a two-out single in the sixth inning of Game 2.

Game 1: Chapman 8, St. Catherine 0 (6 inn.)
Freshman RHP Sarah Solis allowed a leadoff single and a fifth-inning walk; besides that she was virtually untouchable. The rookie tossed her first career complete-game shutout with a career-high 14 strikeouts. In fact, 14 of the 18 outs she recorded were on strikes, including 11 strikeouts in a row from the first to fourth innings. Solis balanced her record at 5-5 this season.

The Panthers provided plenty of offense as eight of the starting nine collected at least one hit. Chapman had 12 hits in all, led by senior IF Dani Brown who went 2-for-3 with a triple, two RBI and two runs. Sophomore C Michelle Pitts’ RBI single in the third highlighted a four-run inning for the Panthers.

Sophomore OF Jojo Wakabayashi tripled, stole a base and scored three runs for the Panthers who won by ‘run rule’ for the third time this season and second in the past three games.

Sophomore DP Jayme Jarvis also had a pair of hits, including the game winning RBI in the sixth inning. Freshman OF Kerry Peterson was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Game 2: Chapman 4, St. Catherine 1
A two-out RBI single in the sixth inning broke a no-hit and shutout bid by senior RHP Ally Waffle who settled for a one-hitter. The veteran right-hander allowed just one unearned run and struck out seven batters to improve to 5-2 overall. She retired 12 Wildcats in a row before a batter reached on a Chapman error to leadoff the sixth.

The Panthers jumped on the board early, scoring twice in the first inning thanks to an RBI double by Peterson followed by an RBI double from Jarvis. Peterson doubled home another run in the second inning to give Chapman a 3-0 lead. The rookie outfielder enjoyed a 4-for-4 performance at the plate and was 6-for-7 with a walk and three RBI in the doubleheader. The No. 2 hitter currently leads the Panthers with a .426 batting average and 18 RBI.

Meanwhile Pitts drove home the Panthers’ fourth run of the game with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

Wakabayashi had two stolen bases and scored a pair of runs for Chapman which has won eight of its past 11 games this month.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscores:
Game 1: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2009-10/stats/scu-cu1.htm
Game 2: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2009-10/stats/scu-cu2.htm