Plenty of crooked numbers gives Panthers season opening sweep
ORANGE, Calif. – A 29-hit offensive attack propelled the Chapman University softball team to a doubleheader sweep of visiting Cal Lutheran University in its season and SCIAC debuts at El Camino Real Park on Sunday afternoon. The Panthers disposed of the Regals 15-2 in a run-rule shortened Game 1 and then completed the sweep with a 7-1 win in the second game.
Game 1: Chapman 15, Cal Lutheran 2
The Panthers put up crooked numbers in each of the first four innings, including five runs in both the second and third to cruise to a lopsided victory in their home opener. Senior OF and leadoff hitter Jenny Richards set the table for Chapman with a single, double and triple in her first three at-bats and scored three runs.
Chapman (2-0 overall, 2-0 SCIAC) sent 10 batters to the plate in their five-run second which broke the game wide open. Richards had a run-scoring triple followed by RBI doubles from sophomore OF Karina Muniz and senior IF Rhianna Stepler-Camp in the frame.
The first six batters in the Panther third all reached base, the first four with singles, as Chapman added five more runs. In the inning, senior IF Stephanie Engle collected one of her three hits, driving home Richards. Engle reached base in all four plate appearances.
In the circle, sophomore RHP Cassie Oregel (1-0) earned her first victory of the year, allowing just four hits and one earned run over five innings. The team's strikeout leader from 2012 added four Ks to her line.
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2012-13/boxscores/20130210_b64r.xml
Game 2: Chapman 7, Cal Lutheran 1
It wasn't until the sixth inning when the Chapman bats exploded for six hits and four runs to turn a 3-1 lead into a convincing win. Stepler-Camp led off the inning with a single – finishing the game a perfect 3-for-3 – and freshman IF Larissa Rinauro followed two batters later with a two-run double just inside the left field line. Later, RBIs from freshman OF Amy Serven and Muniz added some insurance as the Panthers won going away.
After Chapman took a 2-0 lead in the first with a couple of unearned runs, Cal Lutheran (0-4 overall, 0-2 SCIAC) scored its lone run on a pair of two-out hits in the third inning to cut the deficit in half. Chapman added a run in the fourth and then the outburst in the sixth.
Senior RHP Katie Terry and freshman RHP Natalie Both (1-0) combined on a six-hitter, allowing just one run and striking out three. Both tossed the final 3.1 innings to earn her first college victory.
Serven went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI in her collegiate debut and Rinauro was 2-for-3 with a run scored.
On the day, Chapman hitters combined to hit nearly .500 (29-for-60, .483) and scored 22 runs in 10 innings.
Boxscore: http://www.chapmanathletics.com/sports/sball/2012-13/boxscores/20130210_hpve.xml
by Doug Aiken
Sports Information Director
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