BOX SCORES: GAME 1 | GAME 2

SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's softball dropped a close pair of games, 3-1 and 2-1, to Chaminade University in Pacific West Conference play on Wednesday afternoon at McInnis Park.

After three innings of scoreless softball, Chaminade (8-19/4-11) struck first with a run on three hits but junior pitcher Jessi Saaty worked out of the inning and kept two Silver Swords stranded. The Lady Penguins (9-19/0-10) scratched out a run in the bottom of the fifth after Kayleigh Klingberg reached base on an error. She stole second and sophomore Molly Howard doubled down the left field line to bring Klingberg home. Dominican recorded hits in the sixth and seventh but stranded both of those runners.

The Silver Swords, batting as the home team in game two, capitalized on a defensive miscue to take the early lead. Shalin Yamaguchi reached second on a misplayed ball to third and came around when the next batter, Melissa Harris, singled to left field.

Howard started a sixth inning rally with a single down the right field line. Junior Kellie Hislop bunted her over on the sacrifice and she reached third on junior pitcher Shawna Robb's single down the left field line. Howard came home on an failed pickoff attempt and errant throw by the catcher. Unfortunately for the Lady Penguins, they stranded a pair of runners and were unable to acquire the lead. Chaminade came right back in the bottom half of the inning. An error opened the door for the Silver Swords, who scored the eventual winning run on a Yamagachi RBI single.

Howard finished the day 2-for-6 with a run and an RBI to boost her average to .327. Hislop was also 2-for-6 and leads the team with a .352 batting average. Saaty went 3-for-6 on the day.

Dominican will travel to Turlock this weekend for the Tournament of Champions hosted by Cal State Stanislaus. Play begins on Friday, April 1 and continues through Sunday, April 2. The Lady Penguins begin play against Cal State San Bernardino at 8:45 a.m. on Friday.