THOUSAND OAKS, Calif.— A six-run fifth inning for the visiting Sagehens, busted the game wide open as Pomona-Pitzer took down Cal Lutheran softball 18-6 in six innings. 

It was the first conference game of the season at Hutton Field as both the Regals and Sagehens opened SCIAC play on Saturday. The loss dropped the Regals to 3-4 as the Sagehens improved to 3-3. 

Despite the bases being loaded in the top of the first inning, the Regals had a pretty double play to get them out of the inning. Olivia Serrano started the game at pitcher and struck out the better prior to the defense closing out the inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Mia Onesto had a great hit to mid-field to start the Regals offense and converted it into a double. Kendall Marinesi followed with a RBI single, tallying her seventh of the season. With the bases loaded and two outs the Regals could not capitalize on any more runs in the inning.

After putting in Meghan Henry on the mound, The Purple and Gold made it out of the third inning allowing just one run, as the Sagehens took a 3-1 lead. 

The Regals answered in the bottom of the fourth as Lexie Findley delivered a hit, and Natalie Luna ran into score. Immediately following, Marinesi added another run resulting from an error on the Sagehens. Findley recorded a run of her own thanks to an RBI from Natalie Winokur, adding 3 runs to the Regals total score

The Regals 4-3 lead didn't last long as the Sagehens took back a 5-4 lead, as Cal Lutheran headed into the bottom of the fourth. With the second RBI from Marinesi, Onesto recorded another run on the afternoon, tying the game 5-5 heading to the fifth. 

Marinesi had a key catch to close out the top of a tough third inning, in which Pomona-Pitzer dominated with 5 runs. Defensive efforts from Cal Lutheran were not enough as Pomona-Pitzer put up 6 runs in the fifth inning and seven runs in the sixth.

With the second pitch change for the Regals, Brittany Workman pitched 0.2 innings and Taryn Faull closed out the game from the mound for Cal Lutheran. Pomona-Pitzer hit the ball well as they finished the game with 19 hits and The Regals came up with 10. 

Cal Lutheran will look to redeem themselves against Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, with the doubleheader starting at noon. 

Box Score: PP 18, CLU 6
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Release by Ryan Jorgenson, Sports Information Director