SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Dominican University of California softball team split a doubleheader against Academy of Art on Saturday and then proceeded with a Senior Day ceremony.
The Penguins topped the Urban Knights 3-2 in extra innings to start the day, but fell 14-9 in the second contest. Dominican's overall record settles at 19-27 while the conference mark stands at 16-14. Academy of Art ranks fifth in the PacWest while the Penguins are at No. 6.
On Saturday in a postgame ceremony, Dominican celebrated the academic and athletic achievements of the team's four seniors:
Alyssa Lanza,
Catlyn Cavender,
Angelina Lombardi and
Katelyn Harden.
Cavender scored a run and Harden earned the victory in the first game, tossing eight innings and allowing just two runs. Lanza went 4-for-4 and Lombardi started on the mound in the second game, which also marked the team's final home contest of 2017.
Game One: Penguins 3, Urban Knights 2
An impressive pitching matchup led to a 1-1 tie through the first seven innings. Karitza Reyez broke the 0-0 tie with a homer in the fourth inning. It was her third homerun of the season.
The Urban Knights pulled even with an RBI single in the top of the sixth. The visitors managed to score first in extra innings, pulling ahead 2-1 in the top of the eighth.
The Penguins didn't let the game slip away though.
McKenzie Schumacher and Lanza provided back-to-back one-out singles and then Dominican capitalized on an infield error, which brought both of those runners around to score with two outs as the Penguins won in walk-off fashion.
Game Two: Urban Knights 14, Penguins 9
In addition to Lanza's stellar 4-for-4 performance at the plate, three other Dominican hitters posted multi-hit efforts.
Haley Cheek went 3-for-3 while
Dahlen Dennis and Harden collected two hits apiece.
The Penguins outhit the Urban Knights 14-13 but the visitors took advantage of four Dominican errors.
Cheek tallied the Penguins' lone extra-base hit of the game, knocking a solo homerun in the bottom of the seventh. It marked the second homer of the season for the sophomore from Simi Valley.
