May 2, 2009

Leopards Drop Marathon To Athenas In SCIAC Elimination Game

The University of La Verne softball team fell short of reaching the final round of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament by falling to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Saturday's elimination game by a 3-2 13-inning defeat that lasted 3 hours and 6 minutes in Redlands.

The Athenas scored one in the top of the second on a bases-loaded walk to lead 1-0. Despite opportunities, neither team scored again until the bottom of the sixth when La Verne gained an RBI-single up the middle by Ashley Paul, Tara Allis, who connected on a double with two outs.

The seventh inning saw the Athenas break the tie with a single by freshman center fielder Megan Morris and then an RBI-double by freshman third baseman Michelle Brody.

La Verne would battle back and tie the game in the bottom in the inning. The Leopards loaded the bases with a single and two walks, with Diandra Burns providing a sacrifice fly to score Daryn Schively.

The battle continued through five more scoreless innings.

CMS had opportunities to take the lead by loading the bases in the eighth and ninth innings with no outs but could not convert.

Finally, in the top of the 13th, the Athenas put it all together for the win. Lopez walked to lead off the inning and then freshman catcher Rebecca King moved her over on a sacrifice bunt. Brody singled to score Lopez to break on top 3-2.

The Leopards went quietly the bottom of the inning, as CMS advanced to face Redlands.

Athena pitcher Julia Cruz earned the win from the mound, pitching the final 6.2 innings with three hits and three strikeouts.

With the win, CMS avenged a loss to the Leopards in the opening game of the tournament on Friday.

In Friday's opener, La Verne jumped out to an early lead with a three-run outing in the bottom of the third inning. Melissa Carlson reached on a fielder’s choice and then quickly stole second and third. With two outs, Ashley Paul was walked and then stole second base. Freshman left fielder Diandra Burns reached on an error, plating Carlson, and then stole second. Senior first baseman Lynsey Padilla singled up the middle to score two runs, giving La Verne a 3-0 lead.

The Athenas rallied back with one run in the top of the fifth as Megan Morris led off with a single bunt. She moved to second when Michelle Harvey grounded out to the short stop and eventually scored on a fielding error by the Leos.

However, La Verne captured an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single from Mandy Brenner, securing the 4-1 victory.

Sophomore pitcher Delaney Baylor gave up seven hits and struck out five in seven innings of work, earning the win despite five errors by the Leopard defense.

The Leopards advanced to the final game on Friday against the host University of Redlands, falling 2-0. Bulldog pitcher Olivia Ellis shut down the Leopards on five hits while catcher Nicky Neumann scored twice while connecting on a solo homer in the sixth.

Redlands would beat the Athenas 5-1 to capture the SCIAC Tournament crown.