THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— Cal Lutheran softball earned a pair of one-run victories as the Regals swept the Alfred Saxons 2-1 and 6-5 on Tuesday afternoon at Hutton Field.
The first game featured a complete game performance from Meghan Henry and the second game had a come-from-behind ending, with Danielle Chatman hitting in the game-winning RBI and Sammy Edmonds getting her first collegiate win, as the Regals improved to 5-7 on the season.
The Regals did all of their scoring in the second inning of the first game. Kendall Marinesi got the inning started as she doubled to left. Celeste Ekman was up next and singled to score Marinesi and then advanced to second on the throw. Her getting to second was big as the next hit was a single from Rachel Barker. The Saxons' center fielder bobbled the ball, and with Ekman now at third, it allowed her to score easily.
That was all the scoring Henry and the defense needed. Henry threw 138 pitches with five strikeouts, while only allowing six hits and one earned run over the seven innings.
The defense had Henry's back and made play after play to keep the Saxons' scoreless through four innings. With runners on the corners in the second, the bases loaded in the third and two runners on in the fourth, it was two ground balls and a strikeout that allowed Henry to get out of the innings.
Alfred looked to take the lead in the fifth as they scored their lone run and still had runners on second and third. Henry shut down the Saxons' after that as she sat down two straight batters to end the inning and then eight of the next 11 batters to end the game. She moved to 2-0 with the win.
In the second game, it was the Saxons' that got on the board first as they scored four runs in the top of the third. They added one more in the top of the fourth and had a 5-0 lead. Olivia Serrano didn't allow a hit through two innings, but Alfred finally got to her in the third and fourth. After four innings from Serrano, Edmonds was called in to finish the game.
The Regals slowly cut into the lead in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. In the fourth inning, Marinesi, Sienna Vannoy and Lexie Findley all singled and the bases were loaded with one out. Catherine Slabaugh reached on an error for the first run, Jordan Vallejo hit a sacrifice fly for the second and Celeste Ekman singled for the third.
Cal Lutheran continued the scoring in the fifth as the bats kept making noise. Vannoy doubled to score Marinesi and the next batter up, Findley, singled scoring Vannoy.
The Regals were only down one heading to the sixth. After a single from Ekman, and a sac bunt from Lauren Salvati to move her over, it was Chatman that came through with a single to put the Regals up 6-5.
Edmonds answered the call from the offense and she and the defense took care of Alfred the rest of the way. In the final three innings, Edmonds struck out three batters and only gave up two hits as she earned the first win of her career.
The Regals jump right back in to conference play. Cal Lutheran welcomes Redlands to Hutton Field on Saturday for a doubleheader at 12 and 2 p.m.
Interview with Sammy Edmonds and Danielle Chatman: https://youtu.be/RTUd-uH_ob8
Box Score: CLU 2, AU 1; CLU 6, AU 5
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director
