SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican women's softball fell in a pair of close games 3-2 and 10-9 to Humboldt State on Sunday afternoon at Penguin Field. 

Sophomore infielder Alyssa Ramirez finished with a 3 for 5 performance at the plate for the Penguins (7-21) with one run and three RBI. Junior outfielder McKenzie Schumacher had a strong second game going 3 for 4 with a triple and two runs scored. Junior infielder Mady Christensen went 3 for 5 in the last game with an RBI and two runs. 

Hanna Holland led the Jacks (15-23) going 3 for 5 with an RBI in the second game. Haley Suter finished the day going 4 for 7 with three runs and three RBI in the second game. Jasmine Hill earned the win in the first game, allowing one hit in 4.1 innings pitched. Lexee Sheiring did just enough in 3.1 innings in the second game to earn a win from the circle. 

Game One

The Jacks got on the board first after JoAna Mullins doubled and Haley Suter singled both to left center to take the 1-0 lead in the top of the second. The Penguins responded in the bottom half of the inning as Ramirez drew a lead-off walk and Dahlen Dennis laid down a sacrifice bunt to move her into scoring position. Ramirez took third on a wild pitch and Cheek beat out an infield hit as Danica Grier misread the spin on the ball to allow Ramirez to cross the plate for the 1-1 equalizer. 

The Penguins kept the momentum rolling in the bottom of the third as Schumacher reached on an error and Karitza Reyes singled to left field. Ramirez hit a rope to center field, just deep enough for Schumacher to score from second with a head-first slide for the 2-1 lead.

The Jacks quickly erased the deficit as Rylie Carlier doubled to lead off the fourth and Mariah Tovar dropped a ball just over the head of Cheek at first base to bring in pinch runner Lauren Lipe from third for the tie.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Penguins forced a bases loaded jam as Ramirez, Dennis, and Chinchilla all drew walks, but Hill was able to escape with a ground out to third for the final out of the inning. In the top half of the seventh, Maddie Allen walked and quickly stole second to move into scoring position. Grier singled to left field and was thrown out at second trying to extend it into a double, but not before scoring Allen for the final run of the game. 

Game Two

The Penguins bats woke up in the second game as Christensen led off the game with a single to right field and Schumacher singled past Tovar's extended glove at first base on the following at bat. Ramirez once again came through with the clutch hit for Dominican, sending a 2-2 pitch to the right field fence to score Christensen for the 1-0 lead. Dennis then grounded out to short stop to bring home Schumacher from third for the 2-0 lead.

Carlier provided the response for Humboldt State as she singled to right center and Suter tripled to straightway center to cut the deficit in half with one out. Tovar singled to center in the next at bat to tie the game.

Carlier sparked the the Jacks once again in the top of the third with a lead-off double to the fence in left center. Mullins roped a single through the left side and Suter brought both home with a double to left center to take a 4-2 lead. Suter came in on the next at bat as an error sent a bouncing ball into shallow left center and HSU led 5-2 heading to the fourth.

Schumacher made a fantastic play on defense for Dominican to shift some momentum back to the Penguins as she chased down a towering fly ball from Mariah Kalamaras and made the one-handed grab as she bounced off the fence. Dominican took that momentum into the bottom of the frame as Dennis walked and Mott homered over left field fence with two outs to cut the deficit to 5-4. Lauren Persi singled down the right field line to keep the two-out rally going and Christensen doubled to right to tie the game at 5-5. 

In the bottom of the sixth, Persi walked and Christensen doubled to left to put both in scoring position with one out for Schumacher. Schumacher answered the call as she sent a line drive into the right-center gap and used her speed to slide into third base with ease, giving Dominican the 7-5 advantage. Alexis Chinchilla laid down a squeeze bunt that stayed just inside the first base line to bring Schumacher in to score, and extend Dominican's lead to 8-5 heading into the final inning.

In the top of the seventh, Suter loaded the bases with a long single over the head to Schumacher in center field. Persi came in to relieve, but couldn't stop the bleeding as Tovar singled through the middle and Haley followed with a double to left center to tie the game, 8-8. A passed ball brought home Tovar from third for the go-ahead run and Holland dropped a bunt single to score Haley for the 10-8 lead.

The Penguins would not go down so easily as Reyes singled and Cheek walked to put the tying run on base. Mott sent a long fly ball to center field, but it hit the top of the fence to stay in the park for a long single. Persi grounded out on a high hope to the pitcher to allow Reyes to come home, but Dominican was unable to get the tying run home. 

The Penguins will return to the diamond Sunday to face Azusa Pacific in a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. PDT. Live stats will be available online.