Walkoff win finishes off sweep of No. 15 Rochester
ORANGE, Calif. – With a walkoff win in the nightcap, the Chapman University softball team completed a doubleheader sweep of No. 15 Rochester on Wednesday. Chapman won the first game 8-1 and walked off in the ninth for a 11-10 victory in game two.
The Panthers have rolled to a 13-game win streak to open the 2022 season.
Game 1 – W, 8-1
The Yellowjackets scored on a passed ball in the first inning before freshman Jillian Kelly settled in to another dominant outing. Kelly struck out 12 batters and scattered five hits while allowing just the one unearned run, moving her season ERA back below one run to 0.95.
After allowing back-to-back singles to start the game and an unearned run to cross the plate, Kelly retired nine of the next 10 batters. Rochester did not have another hit until the sixth inning as the Panthers built up a big lead.
An error in the second inning allowed the Panthers to tie the game and Iliana Serna added the go-ahead run with an RBI-single. Two more Yellowjacket errors in the third, combined with four Chapman hits, pushed four more runs across the plate for a 5-1 lead. Annika Briski, Tracie Okumura and Julia Muniz each had run-scoring singles.
Samantha Kennedy added an RBI-single in the sixth and Briski piled on another RBI-single in the seventh. Briski ended the doubleheader 4-for-8 on the day with a pair of RBIs.
Game 2 – W, 11-10 (9 inns.)
Chapman looked as if it would roll to a doubleheader sweep in the early goings of game two. The Panthers built a 9-1 lead after four innings and were just one strike away from a run-rule victory against the No. 15 team in the latest NFCA top-25 poll. Then, Rochester rallied.
The Yellowjackets scored five times in the fifth and three more in the sixth to tie the game at 9-9 and force extra innings.
Despite the final score, Simi Lauwers continued to provide a powerful 1-2 punch for the Panthers in the circle. Lauwers started for the Panthers and allowed just one unearned run in the first four innings while the Panthers dominated. She gave way to the bullpen in the fifth and part of the sixth before coming back in to save Chapman from falling victim to a comeback.
Lauwers ended up with eight innings pitched as she entered the game with runners on in the sixth but no outs. An error and a double brought three runs across the plate – all charged to the bullpen – but she did not allow a hit for the rest of the game. She retired the next nine batters in a row and 12 of the next 13 to pick up the win.
With the game tied 9-9 and the international tiebreaker in effect, the Yellowjackets manufactured a run in the eighth with a sacrifice bunt and sacrifice fly. Chapman answered when Allie Tajii singled in the tying run in the bottom of the eighth.
After Lauwers hit the leadoff batter in the ninth, the Yellowjackets elected not to lay down a sacrifice bunt. Instead, Lauwers induce two pop ups a grounder to third to keep the inherited runner stuck on second and open a window for the Chapman offense.
Okumura laid down the sacrifice bunt and Muniz brought home the runner from third with a sharp chopper back up the middle. As the grounder kicked off the pitcher's foot, the run crossed the plate to keep Chapman's season-opening win streak intact.
Rani Lauwers two-RBI triple highlighted a four-run second to put Chapman on the board. Okumura tripled in the third and kept going around third when the ball was misplayed in the outfield to make it 6-0. After Serna made it 7-0 in the third, Chapman tacked on two more runs in the fourth to make it 9-1.
The Panthers will finish up a series with Occidental on Friday at 2 p.m. Chapman swept the doubleheader two weeks ago to clinch the SCIAC series but will go for the sweep on with a single game on Friday.
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