Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 KENTFIELD, Calif. — The Dominican University of California women's softball team earned a split and nearly completed a comeback bid to take Saturday's Pacific West Conference doubleheader vs. Holy Names University. Domincian ended game one in walkoff fashion, 8-0 in six innnings, before falling 7-4 in eight innings in the nightcap.

Junior Karly Harris (7-24) was dominant in game one. She allowed just three hits while striking out four and walking none in a complete-game shutout, capped by fellow pitcher Ashlyn Moriarity's pinch-hit walkoff double in the sixth inning.

The Lady Penguins (10-46/3-29) saw a runner reach base every single inning. A run came across in the first after Dominican played small ball. Rodriguez opened up the frame with a single through the left side, then swiped second. A Tori Johnson sacrifice bunt moved Rodriguez to third, and Leslie Mesa's single up the middle put the first run on the board.

Johnson scored from third base on a wild pitch in the third inning. In the fourth, Rachael Santiago scored from second on a Rodriguez single to right field. Dominican added a pair of runs in the fifth. The first four batters of the inning (Mesa, Klingberg, Dominique Perry, Samantha Talavera) reached base safely, with Mesa and Klingberg eventually coming around to score. The Lady Penguins used a two-out rally in the sixth to end things. Three consecutive singles by Klingberg, Perry, and Talavera resulted in a pair of runs and set up a first-and-second situation for Moriarity. The freshman delivered on the second pitch she saw with a double to left field that scored Perry and ended game one.

In the nightcap, the Hawks (16-40/10-22) struck first with a pair of runs in the second inning, then added a run in the third. Klingberg and Perry started foff the fourth inning with base hits and Klinberg scored Dominican's first run of the game on a Santiago single. However, Dominican stranded a pair and gave the run right back in the fifth.

In the bottom of the fifth though, Dominican rallied for four hits and scored three runs to tie the game at 4-4. Rodriguez and Johnson singled, then Mesa had an RBI ground-rule double. Klingberg grounded out to score Johnson and Perry singled up the middle to bring home Mesa. That chased HNU starter Nicole Ochoa in favor of Vanessa Pulido (2-13), who was credited with the win.

Harris relieved Moriarity in the sixth and stranded a pair. The Hawks finally found her number, however, and touched her for three runs on four hits in extra innings. Dominican had two hits but stranded two in the bottom half of the eighth inning.

Sophomore Leslie Mesa may have been the biggest surprise this season, offensively, as she lifted her average 131 points from last season to lead the Lady Penguins with a .325 batting average and a team-best 50 hits. The only returner to have played every game in 2012, the sophomore this season appeared in 55 out of a possible 56 games.

Klingberg, last year's offensive leader, led the team this season in slugging (.500), home runs (8), RBI (36), and total bases (81).

Rodriguez finished her day going 5-for-9 with a pair of stolen bases. She lifted her average 46 points from last season and finishes 2013 having hit .296. She stole a team-high 26 bases in 28 attempts (.929).

The Lady Penguins, who nearly tripled their win total from last season, saw improvement across the board under first-year Head Coach Sarah Iwata. Dominican improved in nearly every statistical category: batting average, runs, hits, walks, RBI, total bases, slugging percentage, stolen bases, fielding percentage, ERA, opponent batting average, hits allowed, walks allowed, and strikeouts.

"I'm proud of what this group was able to accomplish this year. Our players really demonstrated the determination that we've had all season long. We grabbed big lead early and kept adding on, then when we were down in game two we clawed our way back into it and forced the game into extras," said Iwata. "We're in a rare situation where we don't lose any players to graduation so we'll look to add depth to the roster and build upon what the girls were able to accomplish this season."