TURLOCK, Calif.- Dominican women's softball opened the Tournament of Champions with a 1-1 outing while matched up against CCAA opponents. The Penguins (6-17, 4-14 PacWest) dropped a 6-2 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills at Turlock Regional Sports Complex, then traveled to Pedretti Park to earn a win over Cal State Monterey Bay with the final score of 5-3 Friday night.

Toros pull away in late innings

In the Penguins' first game of the tournament, Dominican battled early to hold a tight edge over the Toros, but miscues on the defensive end in late innings allowed Dominguez Hills to pull away for the 6-2 lead.

Mady Christensen kept her hitting streak alive, going 1-for-3 with an RBI double and coming around to score for the Penguins. Alexis Chinchilla also went 1-for-3 with an RBI single.

Starting pitcher for Dominguez Hills, Alyssa Olague allowed two earned runs, and just five hits and one walk through 7 innings pitched to earn the win. Ashley Wies supported Olagueby while going 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Kelly Monroy helped the Toros stay in the driver's seat late in the game, going 2-for-4, and coming in to score twice.

The Toros applied pressure early in the bottom of the first inning as Damari Simon roped a single to left field, Jazmin Guzman walked, and Monroy hit a liner back up the middle to help the Toros load the bases without recording an out. Persi worked her way back into the inning, striking out Wies and Rachael Sandoval, but couldn't escape the jam, as Jade Loe forced a walk to allow Simon to walk across the plate, giving Dominguez Hills the 1-0 advantage heading into the second inning.

Dominican responded in the top of the third as first baseman, Haley Cheek drew a leadoff walk, and Waltman advanced Cheek into scoring position with a sac bunt to bring Christensen to the plate. Christensen hit a rocket to left field, scoring Cheek to tie the game, and Chinchilla singled through the middle to score Christensen to take the 2-1 lead. But the two runs wouldn't be enough to hold down the Toros.

Monroy led off the bottom half of the inning with a single, and ended up scoring from first on a single by Wies to help Dominguez Hills tie the game once more. It wasn't until the fifth inning when the Toros loaded the bases and Loe doubled to left field to bring around Madrid and Monroy for the 4-2 lead. With two outs, Reveles stole second to bait Chinchilla, and Loe was able to sneak across the plate on Chinchilla's throw down to Waltman to score. In the same at-bat, Lane forced Christensen to misplay a ball in the dirt, which could have been the final out of the inning, but instead allowed Reveles to come in to score for the 6-2 lead over the Penguins.
 

Penguins rally together to victory

Dominican was once again led by leadoff hitter, Mady Christensen who followed a strong performance in game one, going 2-for-4 while accounting for two runs of her own. Alyssa Ramirez was the difference maker for the Penguins, going 2-for-3 with a double, walk, and 4 RBI.

Despite the loss, Cal State Monterey Bay's Aubrey Cousins helped the Otters stay competitive in late innings, recording a multiple-hit game, going 2-for-3 with 3 RBI.

Christensen quickly went to work with a lead-off rope up the middle, and Schumacher advanced her to second with a sacrifice bunt. Cheek kept the rally going with a walk, and Ramirez let loose on a double to left center to clear the bases for the 2-0 lead. Karitza Reyes followed suit with a double down the right field line, but the Otters escaped the jam as Celeste Villagrana retired the next two batters to end the inning.

After holding the Otters scoreless, Dominican returned in the bottom of the second to tag on one more insurance run. Keely Bowlan worked towards a 3-2 count before forcing a walk from Villagrana. Christensen reached on an error made by the shortstop, and Cheek forced another walk to load the bases and keep the momentum in the Penguins' favor. Villagrana had trouble escaping the jam, walking Ramirez on four straight pitches, allowing DU to extend their lead to 3-0.

In the top of the third inning, the Otters got on the board as Villagrana hit a leadoff double, and Cousins singled to right field to bring her in, cutting the Otter's deficit to 3-1. In the fourth inning, it was Cousins again who singled up the middle with two runners on to bring around Barrow and Salyerkovacs to tie the game at 3-3.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Penguins earned another lead-off base runner as Mott crushed a line drive to the shortstop that was too hot to handle, earning her place at first base. Christensen continued her impressive performance at the plate, singling up the middle to put runners on first and second with no outs. Schumacher laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners both into scoring position. Cheek bounced a ball up the middle to force Krueg to get the out at first, as Mott came in for the go-ahead run. Ramirez came through once again for a single up the middle to score Christensen to earn the Penguins a 5-3 lead.

After Christensen and Ramirez retired the first two batters of the top of the seventh, the Otters made it interesting as Hennings singled up the middle on a full count, and Burt walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. After falling behind in the count 3-0, Persi fought back with three straight called strikes to claim the victory.

The Penguins will return to the diamond tomorrow afternoon in the second day of the Tournament of Champions to face Cal State San Marcos at 12:30 pm PST and Western Washington University at 4:30pm PST. Live stats will be available online.