REDDING, Calif.— Dominican softball's offense came alive Saturday afternoon, taking down Oregon Institute of Technology, 11-1 by way of run-rule, and the Penguins came from behind to defeat Simpson University in the second game with a final score of 5-4 at Simpson Softball Field.
Game one versus Oregon Institute of Technology
Six batters recorded multi-hit games against Oregon Tech (3-1) as the Penguins' (2-5) offense erupted for 15 hits against OIT. Dominican's starting pitcher
Alyssa Waltman went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and held the Owls to just six hits and one earned run over six innings.
Shelby Cefalu also collected three hits with a run, while freshman
Lauren Lapinid went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and a run.
Brianna Griffiths helped the Owls get on the board early in the bottom of the second, singling to left center to score Neenah Pangilinan from second for a 1-0 lead. From there, Waltman buckled down and forced the next three batters to ground out to escape the inning.
Ebony Garza broke Dominican's silence in the top of the third, stretching her legs for a triple to the right center gap.
McKenzie Schumacher took a walk to reach base, and a double steal from Schumacher and Garza allowed Garza to slide home to tie the game at one.
After Waltman retired three straight, the Penguins continued their momentum in the top of the fourth when
Vanessa Porto singled to shallow left center, bringing around Cefalu to take a 2-1 lead. Garza stayed hot, knocking a single to deep right center scoring Salonga and Porto, extending Dominican's lead to 4-1.
Peyton Mott continued her hot streak to begin the season, tripling to the left field fence to score Garza and
Alyssa Ramirez. Lapinid kept things rolling, beating out a grounder to the second baseman up the middle, allowing Mott to score from third to give Dominican a 7-1 lead. Poe relieved McAdams on the mound, and the Owls were able to escape the inning as Keena Armantrout caught Lapinid off first base.
In the top of the fifth with Porto on first and
Faith Erb on third, Erb was able to score on a first-and-third play as Porto was caught stealing second, and Erb scored to extend the Penguins' lead to 8-1.
Dominican took advantage of a couple dropped popups from the Owls, and both Mott and Ramirez were able to come across to score on the mishaps from OIT. Later in the inning Waltman knocked in Lapinid on an RBI single to bring the score to 11-1.
Game two versus Simpson University
Ramirez continued her hot streak into the second game for Dominican, going 3-for-3 with a walk and collecting 2 RBI. Lapinid also continued her momentum, going 2-for-4 and counting for a run in the Penguins' victory over Simpson (4-4).
After two scoreless innings of play, the Penguins got to work in the top of the third as Schumacher beat out a two-out single to second base, and took second during Ramirez' at-bat. Ramirez dropped a single into shallow right, scoring Schumacher to take a 1-0 lead.
Simpson retaliated in the bottom half of the inning, as Mia Olvera hit a two-run single to center field to take the lead. With two runners on,
Lauren Persi relieved
Kathryn Caravalho and retired three straight to get Dominican out of the jam.
Lapinid led off the top of the fourth with a single to right and came across to score on a single down the right field line from
Celeste Salas, tying the game at two apiece. Olvera boosted the Simpson offense once more, nailing another two-run double to left center to give the Hawks a 4-2 lead heading into the fifth.
The Penguins refused to let up, and in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, Garza singled up the middle to score Porto and Erb, taking a 5-4 lead for the final score.
Dominican welcomes all fans to penguin Field Saturday, Feb. 15 for their home opener against Concordia University of Oregon at noon and 2 p.m. PST. Live video and stats will be available online.
