Softball forces winner-take-all but falls in extras of championship game
ORANGE, Calif. – The Chapman University softball team forced a winner-take-all championship game with a 2-0 win but fell 2-1 in extras as Redlands reclaimed the SCIAC Postseason Tournament crown. Chapman made its third consecutive appearance in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament championship round.
Game 1 – W, 2-0
Simi Lauwers was lights out through six innings and Jillian Kelly closed the door in the seventh as the Panthers forced a decisive game seven and won their third consecutive elimination game. Lauwers allowed just three hits through six innings and walked one.
A pair of runs in the fourth inning thanks to back-to-back RBI-singles from Grace Fosselman and Morgan Lastinger was all the run support Lauwers needed and was all she would get. The inning began with a Redlands error and was followed by Gracie Rose reaching when the Bulldogs unsuccessfully tried to cut down the lead runner on a sacrifice bunt. Fosselman and Lastinger came through with the clutch two-out hits after a strikeout to put the Panthers in front.
Katelyn Gandara was allowed just the two unearned runs on three hits and no walks. She struck out three as well to keep Redlands in the game.
After an error in the seventh put the leadoff runner on second base, head coach Janet Lloyd called on Kelly to close out the game. A quick groundout, strikeout and pop out completed the shutout victory for Kelly's second save of the season.
Game 2 – L, 2-1 (10 inns.)
Another duel between Gandara and the Panthers' pitchers broke out in game two. Although both teams put more traffic on the basepaths, the pitchers continued to hang zeroes on the board.
The Panthers scored in the first but were never able to push across another run as they fell in 10 innings to the Bulldogs. Ella Milante, who was 2-for-5 with a double, knocked in the Panthers' opening inning run with a two-out double to knock in Ilianna Serna.
Kelly kept the ball for Panthers to start the game and struck out six over 4.1 innings while allowing one run on six hits. The Bulldogs pushed across their run in the second on a two-out single.
Kelly sat down the next six in a row but eventually ran into trouble in the fifth with two runners in scoring position with one out. Rose Malen took over in the circle and worked her way out of the jam.
Malen retired 10 in a row from the sixth through the ninth but Gandara kept pace as she kept Chapman off the board in the top half of the inning. A walk and an infield single in the 10th had a runner in scoring position for the Panthers with one out but Gandara escaped with a fly out and line out to end the threat.
The Bulldogs finally got too Malen in the 10th with a single and hit batter to start the inning. A sacrifice bunt and intentional walk loaded the bases with one away. Brooklyn Bard lined a single just past the diving Chapman infielders to bring home the championship run.
Chapman's season comes to an end with a 27-16 record and a third consecutive trip to the SCIAC Tournament championship game. The Panthers tied for first place in the SCIAC standings with a lineup and pitching staff still full of underclassmen.
By Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director