SAN RAFAEL, Calif.  – The Dominican University of California softball team split a home doubleheader to Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday.
 
The Penguins cruised to a 4-1 victory in the first contest and then dropped a 5-4 result in the second game.
 
Dominican's record settles at 5-9 overall and 4-2 in the PacWest Conference. Meanwhile, NDNU holds a mark of 3-5 overall and 3-3 in conference play.

Senior Catlyn Cavender extended her hit streak to five-consecutive games on Saturday while fellow fourth-year Katelyn Harden now has wins in her last five pitching appearances.

The Penguins will return to action on Tuesday with a road doubleheader at Dixie State in St. George, Utah.
 
Game One: Penguins 4, Argonauts 1
 
Harden improved her record to 5-1 with an outstanding performance on the mound. She pitched a seven-inning complete game, allowing five hits and zero walks while striking out seven batters.
 
The Penguins' offense provided early support, scoring once in the first inning and then adding two more runs in the second. The home team extended its lead to 4-0 with a single score in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Dominican took advantage of an NDNU error in the opening inning as leadoff hitter McKenzie Schumacher scored when Cavender reached on a miscue by the visitors' first baseman.
 
The Penguins manufactured two more runs in the second frame, which started with a Dahlen Dennis walk followed by a sacrifice bunt by Karitza Reyes. Later in the inning, Dennis scored on a wild pitch and then Alexis Chinchilla crossed the plate on an RBI single from Alyssa Lanza.
 
The final Dominican run arrived in the fourth inning when Reyes scored after another Argonauts' error. Although NDNU produced a solo homerun in the seventh inning, it proved to be too little and too late as the Penguins wrapped up the 4-1 victory.

Game Two: Argonauts 5, Penguins 4
 
Despite a late rally from Dominican, NDNU pulled off the one-run victory. The visitors managed to stake a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning as that rally featured a grandslam from No. 6 hitter Erin Powers.

The Penguins didn't allow themselves to be discouraged by the early deficit. The Penguins scored a pair of runs in the fourth and another two in the fifth. Dennis knocked a double to score Cavender, putting Dominican on the board. Later in the inning, Dennis scored on a groundout. In the bottom of the fifth, the Penguins scored their pair of runs with two outs as Lanza and Keely Bowlan crossed the plate.

The Argonauts managed to keep Dominican scoreless in the final two frames though. The Penguins put runners at first and second in the bottom of the seventh but NDNU worked itself out of the jam.

In relief for Dominican in the second game, freshman Lauren Persi contributed her longest outing of the season with 6.1 scoreless innings and five strikeouts along the way.