Leopards Drop West Region Opener To Louisiana College
Diandra Burns went 2-4 with a homer and 2 RBI (Jeff Stapleton/ETBU Sports)
The University of La Verne softball team dropped its NCAA West Region opener, falling to #2 seed Louisiana College 4-3 in nine innings Thursday at Taylor Field in Marshall, TX on the campus of East Texas Baptist University.
Amber Thomas hit a single over third basemen Kari Granger to drive in McCaslin Carson with one out in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Lady Wildcats to victory. Carson led off with a double and moved to third on Taylor Trojcak's bunt. Carson also pitched the final 3 innings to earn the win in relief, striking out seven batters.
La Verne took a 2-0 first inning lead on a 2-run homer from Diandra Burns off starter Rene Schwartzenburg before the Lady Wildcats responded with a run in the second, third and fourth innings to take a 3-2 advantage.
The Leopards responded in the sixth on a double from Granger to score Tara Allis to knot the contest at 3-3.
Melissa Carlson went 3-5 for the Leopards in the defeat while Burns went 2-4. Thomas enjoyed a 3-5 day at the plate for the Lady Wildcats.
Louisiana College (37-7) moves on to face East Texas Baptist (38-7) on Friday afternoon.
Day two begins Friday at 12 pm Central Time (10 am Pacific Time) with the Leopards squaring off against SCIAC rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in an elimination game. Friday's meeting will be the seventh between the schools this season.
