Softball splits doubleheader, drops series to Redlands

ORANGE, Calif. – A blowout victory evened the series but the Chapman University softball team fell in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader and dropped the SCIAC series to Redlands on Saturday. The Panthers took the first game 16-3 before falling 3-2 in the finale.

Game 1 – W, 16-3

Chapman put up four in the first and six in the second and never looked back. Eight starters had at least one hit, including a 3-for-3 game from Julia Muniz. Muniz also drove in three runs and Ilianna Serna drove in three more while going 1-for-1. She drew a based loaded walk and hit a sacrifice fly.

Simi Lauwers picked up her ninth win in the circle. The Bulldogs managed three runs after the game was well in hand for Chapman.

At the top of the lineup, Samantha Kennedy went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Tracie Okumura also had two hits.

The Panthers scored in every inning, adding one run in the third and five in the fourth as they came away with the emphatic run-rule victory to even the series.

Game 2 – L, 3-2

The offense couldn't pick up where it left off game one as Chapman managed just two hits – both singles – through the first four frames. Serna extended her hitting streak to 10 games as she went 2-for-3 in the game.

Jillian Kelly and Redlands' Kalyn Kershner went toe-to-toe over the first four innings as neither offense was able to string enough hits together to put a mark on the scoreboard. A pair of hits with a walk in the middle brought home the first run in the top of the fifth, giving Redlands its first lead of the day.

Chapman responded after Muniz led off the bottom half with a double. After Emily Hayes' bunt single put runners on the corners, the Grace Fosselman drove in the tying run with a grounder to the right side. Pinch runner Christina Denlinger sprinted home on a wild pitch just a few pitches later to give Chapman a 2-1 lead.

Redlands tied to the game in the sixth when the Panthers allowed a runner to score from first on a bloop single that landed just inside the right field line. In the bottom half, Serna singled to put runners on the corners with one out but the Panthers stranded the runners on second and third.

A leadoff walk and an error put the go-ahead run on third for Redlands and the Bulldogs capitalized with a sacrifice fly to take a 3-2 lead in the final inning. Kershner slammed the door in the ninth to pick up her second win of the season.

Chapman returns to El Camino Real Park on Friday to open a three-game set with Pomona-Pitzer. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.

By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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