SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Dominican University of California softball team split a home doubleheader on Thursday against Hawaii Hilo.
Despite falling 5-1 in the first game, the Penguins bounced back to capture an 8-3 victory in the second contest. Dominican now holds an overall mark of 11-15 and a conference record of 10-6. The Penguins remain at fifth place in the PacWest standings.
Sophomore
Keely Bowlan put together a stellar day offensively on Thursday, going 3-for-5 at the plate with three runs batted in. Fellow second-year
Karitza Reyes also collected three hits in the doubleheader split.
Junior pitcher
Gaby Katafias, a Ladera Ranch native, earned the win for the Penguins and it marks the second victory in her last three appearances.
Dominican's long homestand will continue on Sunday with a 12 p.m. doubleheader against Hawaii Pacific.
Game One: Vulcans 5, Penguins 1
UHH jumped on the scoreboard in the third inning, starting with a two-run homer by Billi Derleth off a 3-2 pitch. Later in the inning, the Vulcans stretched their lead to 3-0 with a bases-loaded walk.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Penguins' leadoff hitter
Alexis Chinchilla was hit by a pitch. After she advanced to third base, Bowlan delivered an RBI double to cut the UHH lead to 3-1.
Dominican couldn't get any closer though and the Vulcans added a pair of runs in the seventh inning, helped by a pair of walks and a Penguins' error.
Game Two: Penguins 8, Vulcans 3
The Dominican offense came alive in the second contest, putting up five runs in the bottom of the third inning to break the game open. The Penguins took advantage of two UHH errors and loaded the bases. Then Dominican rattled off five-consecutive hits, including a key triple by
Catlyn Cavender. That stretch featured singles from Bowlan,
Katelyn Harden, Taylor Munoz and
Karitza Reyes.
The scoring didn't stop there for the Penguins. One inning later, Bowlan added a sacrifice fly to bring in
Alyssa Lanza.
Although the Vulcans scraped across a run in the fifth, Dominican rallied once again in the bottom half of the inning by tallying two scores to put the lead at 8-1. Reyes contributed an RBI double and then
Haley Cheek knocked a single to cap off the rally.
UHH trimmed the gap to 8-3 but that's where the final score settled. Katafias finished her outing with 5.1 innings pitched, allowing just four hits and two earned runs. Freshman
Lauren Persi tossed 1.2 scoreless innings in relief and hasn't allowed a run in three of her last four outings.