SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Dominican University of California softball team split a doubleheader with Hawaii Pacific on Monday to wrap up an eight-game homestand.
In the first game, the Penguins held off a late HPU rally to secure the 11-10 win. The second game went the Sharks' way by a score of 7-5.
The Penguins now carry a 14-16 overall record into this weekend's Tournament of Champions hosted by Stanislaus State. Dominican is 13-7 in the PacWest Conference, ranking fifth in the standings.
Sophomore infielder
Karitza Reyes put together a tremendous performance offensively on Monday, going 4-for-7 at the plate with five runs batted in. In the second game, senior
Alyssa Lanza posted a 3-for-4 effort with two runs scored.
Game One: Penguins 11, Sharks 10
In a back-and-forth game with plenty of offensive firepower, the two squads totaled 12 hits apiece. After Dominican took an 11-4 lead into the top of the sixth, HPU gave the home team a scare with six runs over the final two innings before finally falling to the Penguins 11-10.
The Sharks jumped on the scoreboard first, scoring twice in the opening inning and adding a run in the second. Dominican bounced right back in the bottom of the second as Reyes blasted a two-run homer and
Alexis Chinchilla provided the game-tying RBI.
The Penguins held a 5-4 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth, which featured a Penguins' rally that broke the game wide open.
Dahlen Dennis started the flurry of runs with a two-run single that brought in Lanza and
McKenzie Schumacher. Dominican ended the inning with a 10-4 edge and
Catlyn Cavender added a solo shot in the next frame to push the margin to 11-4.
In the top of the seventh inning once HPU pulled to within 11-10, the visitors had a runner on second with two outs. Penguins' reliever
Lauren Persi closed the door on the victory though, getting the Sharks to ground out to end the game.
Game Two: Sharks 7, Penguins 5
The top half of the Dominican lineup provided most of the offensive production in game two, with nine of the team's 11 hits coming from the top five spots in the lineup. Reyes and
Keely Bowlan provided RBI singles in the bottom of the fourth inning, seizing a 2-1 lead for the Penguins.
The Sharks rallied to take a 5-2 advantage but Dominican didn't back down, getting RBI hits from Lanza, Reyes and Chinchilla to even the score once again heading into the final inning.
The Penguins ended up on the unfortunate side of the result though as HPU leftfielder Dominique Walker proved to be the hero, knocking a 3-2 pitch over the fence to give the Sharks a 7-5 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, HPU retired Dominican in order to salvage the doubleheader split.
