Mistakes, missed opportunities haunt Panthers

ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University softball team lost a pair of games at the Sun West Tournament on Monday afternoon at Hart Park. The Panthers dropped Game 1 to the University of St. Thomas (Minn.) 7-2; committing five errors in the game, and then dropped a heartbreaker to Hamline University (Minn.) 6-5 after stranding 10 runners on base.

Game 1: St. Thomas 7, Chapman 2
All seven of the Tommies’ runs were unearned – a result of five Chapman errors in the game, tying a season-high. After jumping out to a 1-0 lead on a suicide-squeeze bunt in the first inning by senior IF Melanie Villarroel, St. Thomas rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the first and another pair in the second inning to lead 4-1.

The Tommies then chased Panthers’ starter, freshman RHP Sarah Solis in the fifth, tagging her with the loss. Solis allowed six hits and six unearned runs in four-plus innings and fell to 5-6 overall.

Sophomore C Michelle Pitts had two of Chapman’s four hits in the game, including a double.

Game 2: Hamline 6, Chapman 5
The Panthers fell to 4-4 in one-run games this season despite out-hitting the Pipers 9-7 in the game and coaxing four walks out of Hamline starting pitcher Kelsey Tacheny.

Chapman had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to score three times in the fourth inning and took a 4-3 lead. However, a home run by Hamline’s Erin Farley in the top of the fifth gave the Pipers the lead for good. The three-run blast came to define the game, in which Hamline got the big hit with runners in scoring position that Chapman could not. The Panthers left 10 runners stranded, including the bases loaded in the second and sixth innings.

The Panthers’ speedsters at the top and bottom of the order tried to generate some offense with sophomores Jojo Wakabayashi and Andrena Calix combining to go 4-for-7 at the plate and each drove in a run. Calix scored a pair of runs and stole two bases as Chapman swiped six bags in all.

Senior RHP Vanessa Goncalves lost for just the second time this year, allowing six runs and seven hits in five innings. Goncalves, who didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning, struck out five batters.

Chapman (13-11) wraps Sun West Tournament play on Wednesday with games beginning at 10 a.m. against St. Olaf College (Minn.) and a rematch against St. Thomas.

by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director

Boxscores:
Game 1: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2009-10/stats/cu-stt.htm
Game 2: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2009-10/stats/ham-cu.htm