Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's softball team knocked the Pacific West Conference's best pitcher out of the game with a late rally on Tuesday but the Lady Penguins couldn't complete the upset against California Baptist University in a Pacific West Conference doubleheader loss at McInnis Park.

Despite a pair of run-scoring singles by sophomore Rachel Santiago and a solid pitching effort by Karly Harris, Dominican (2-21/0-10) dropped game two of the twin bill 5-3 after losing the opener 7-0 to the Lancers (23-4/9-3).

“We've just got to keep working hard and keep making adjustments and get the monkey off our backs with a win,” said Head Coach Roni Sparrey. “We'll get the ball rolling.”

Dominican nearly bowled over Cal Baptist in the second game. Both of Santiago's hits came off Lancers starter Tory Ferreira, a senior who entered the contest as the league leader in earned run average (1.29) while limiting opposing hitters to a PacWest-low .189 batting average. Santiago's first single drove home senior Jill Rizo for a 1-0 lead in the second inning and her last single plated Rizo to bring Cal Baptist coach Bill Baber to the circle to replace Ferreira in the sixth.

Rizo and freshmen Leslie Mesa and Samantha Talavera had the other Dominican hits off Ferreira.

Senior Emma Holden, the league's strikeout leader who pitched a one-hit shutout against Dominican in the first game, relieved Ferreira and struck out Shawna Robb with the potential game-tying and go-ahead runs on base to end the Lady Penguins' threat. Holden struck out two more batters in the seventh to record the save and with 16 strikeouts Tuesday now has 132 strikeouts in 93.2 innings this season.

Harris pitched well enough to win the game for Dominican. She surrendered a two-out, two-run homer in the third inning and was victimized by a two-out triple in the fourth inning that scored a pair of unearned runs following a fielding error.

“Karly pitched really well,” Sparrey said. “Two bad pitches and two big hits. That was it. We had a chance to get out of the [fourth] inning. If our defense, offense, and our pitching is on we win that game.”

The Lady Penguins managed just a third-inning single down the leftfield line by Mesa in the opener. However, Dominican batters drew five walks – two by senior Kellie Hislop – and Robb pitched well after the first inning when she gave up four runs on four hits.

“In the first game, we didn't show up ready to hit,” Sparrey said. “We had a couple of good innings in the second game but we need to see that from the first game and the first pitch. We want to see 14 innings of solid play.”

The Lady Penguins return to the diamond on Saturday, March 24 when they travel to Belmont to play Notre Dame de Namur University in another PacWest doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m.