SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's softball jumped out to an early lead and kept the game tight until a big sixth inning helped No. 14 Concordia University of Irvine take the 6-3 victory Thursday morning at Penguin Field.
Despite the loss, the Penguins (7-28, 4-21 PacWest) held the momentum in early innings as senior left fielder
Karitza Reyes went 1-for-3 with a two-run double. Junior third baseman
Alyssa Ramirez also finished off the day going 1-for-3 with a run.
Callie Nunes earned the victory to move to 29-4 on the year after entering to relieve Erika Morris in the bottom of the third. The top of the lineup did the most damage for the Eagles (40-6, 26-3 PacWest) with leadoff hitter Megan Massa finishing 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI Sydni Dix went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI, while Sydney Sprinkle was 2-for-4 from the plate.
Dominican set the pace of the game in bottom of the second as
Haley Cheek drew a leadoff walk and took second on a passed ball the squirted away from Mackenzie Graham behind the plate. Ramirez singled to left, and Reyes hit a bases-clearing double over the head of Massa in left field to give the Penguins a 2-0 lead.
CUI retaliated in the top half of the third as Massa hit a lead-off homerun to the woodchips beyond the right field fence. Dix and Sprinkle kept the rally going with two straight singles, and Amanda Gjertsen singled through the infield to bring around Dix for the tie.
The Penguins responded in the bottom of the third as Christensen drew a leadoff double to left field. Schumacher moved her to second with a sac bunt and Ramirez doubled off the left-field fence for a clutch RBI to regain the 3-2 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning Dix erased the deficit with a solo homer to right field. The Eagles closed out the bottom half of the inning escaping a 2-out rally, and continued the momentum into the sixth as Massa roped a two-run double to left center. Dix followed with a single up the middle to score Massa from second and extend the Eagles' lead to 6-3.
The Penguins will travel to Moraga to face Holy Names University on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon PDT with live stats and video available online.
