Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Senior Day for the Dominican University of California softball team brought out the biggest crowd of the year on Friday at McInnis Park.

It also brought out the best in the Lady Penguins.

Sophomore Kayleigh Klingberg doubled home the game's only run and senior Shawna Robb, with help from her defense, pitched out of jams in the last two innings when Notre Dame de Namur University had the potential game-tying and game-winning runs in scoring position as the Lady Penguins (4-46/1-31) beat the Argonauts 1-0 to split their Pacific West Conference doubleheader.

“That's huge for us,” said Head Coach Roni Sparrey. “The biggest thing is everyone contributed today throughout the lineup. We pieced a lot of things together and moved some runners along. The defense stepped up big and made the plays that we needed to make.”

For example, in game two freshman centerfielder Leslie Mesa saved a run with a running catch in the second inning and junior leftfielder Cortnie Chenoweth made a diving catch on the line in the third. But it was in the last inning when Robb relied on her defense to come to the rescue. With one out and runners on second and third, senior third baseman Jill Rizo knocked down a hard hit ground ball, looked the runner back to third and got the second out. Then the game ended when senior first baseman Kellie Hislop scooped up Klingberg's low throw from deep in the hole at short.

It was a fantastic finish for seniors Robb, Rizo, Hislop, and Jessi Saaty, who pitched a complete game seven-hitter in the first game, a 3-2 loss to the Argonauts (24-31/10-18). The Lady Penguins scored two earned runs in their first at bat off NDNU starting pitcher Sammy McConvey, who came into the game with the third lowest ERA (1.93) in the PacWest. Klingberg hit a lead-off single and went to third when the Argonauts couldn't field Hislop's sacrifice bunt. Klingberg scored when Hislop stole second base and Hislop came home on an RBI single by Rizo.

NDNU rallied to take a 3-2 lead, but needed a pair of excellent throws by centerfielder Hillary Uekawa to keep it. A running catch against the fence in foul territory by Rizo with the bases loaded and a sliding catch by Hislop into the Argonauts' dugout  helped keep the game close but Dominican had the potential game-tying runs thrown out at home by Uekawa in the last two innings. The last one ended the game.
Nevertheless, the Lady Penguins came back to take the nightcap of the afternoon doubleheader.  The only run came in the third when Saaty fouled off a couple of potential third-strike pitches and drew a walk. Pinch-runner Kelly Borges took Saaty's place and scored on Klingberg's liner into the left-centerfield gap, her third hit of the day.

“That was amazing,” Saaty said.

“It was a positive day,” Sparrey said. “We did a lot of good things and we won and we earned it.”

“It's really hard to go through a season where you're not winning all the time,” Robb said. “I feel like it takes a lot of people with character to still come out and fight as much as we do.”