IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican softball split its second day at the Concordia Kickoff Classic as it dropped a 2-1 pitching duel to Cal State San Marcos before topping Stanislaus 8-3 in the nightcap at Great Park.
Junior catcher
Celeste Salas powered the Penguin (1-3) offense as she went 4-for-6 from the plate with three RBI and a double on the day. Senior pitcher
Rosa Leguria earned the victory in the second game pitching three scoreless innings while junior pitcher
Shelby Keltner collected the save with six strikeouts in the final three innings of the night.
Game One
The first game was a pitching duel between Keltner (0-3) and Zoe Ballen (1-0) who each allowed six hits in complete games. Ballen came out victorious as she left six runners stranded while the Keltner stranded three.
Dominican was the first on the board as junior shortstop
Lauren Lapinid singled up the middle and freshman infielder
Caitlyn Perales singled through the right side to put runners on first and second with two outs. Salas then laced a single through the right side to bring home
Bella Romani from second for the 1-0 lead in the fourth. The Cougars (3-1) answered in the bottom of the fifth as Morgan Salgado singled through the left side and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. Sammie Olivo put a two-out single down the left-field line to bring her home to tie the game.
Both pitchers kept a clean slate in the sixth inning and Paige Donnelly led off the bottom of the seventh with a solo shot to give CSUSM the walk-off win.
Game Two
The Warriors (2-2) got out to a quick start in the second game as Sarah Warden singled through the left side to bring home the first run of the game. Madison Flexser then doubled to left field, the fourth hit of the frame, to bring home two more and Stanislaus State led 3-0 heading to the top of the second.
Lapinid led off the top of the second with a single up the middle and
Alicia Garcia walked to put two runners on with no outs. Salas then doubled to right center to bring home two runs and narrow the deficit to one. After junior infielder Kama Kaleikini singled to right to put Salas 60-feet from the tie, freshman outfielder
Jillian Lampa singled to short and Salas beat the throw home for the tie. Junior infielder
Faith Erb then capped the inning with an RBI single back up the middle to score Kaleikini and Dominican nearly equaled their offensive output of the previous three games with their fourth run of the inning to take the lead. Leguria entered in relief and retired the side in the bottom of the second to keep momentum rolling with the Penguins.
Senior outfielder
Peyton Mott singled up the middle to lead off the third and Lapinid walked on the next at bat to move her into scoring position. After Mott moved to third on a flyout, a wild pitch brought her home and Lapinid advanced to third. Romani laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt and Lapinid came home to give Dominican the 6-3 lead. Stanislaus State managed to get a pair of runners on the bases in the bottom of the frame but Leguria left them both stranded as she scooped up a grounder back to the circle and tossed the ball to first for the final out of the inning.
After a scoreless fourth inning, Keltner entered the game and struck out three batters leaving two runners stranded in the bottom of the fifth. The Warriors threatened again in the bottom of the sixth as Jalyssa Ledesma and Katie Thornsberry singled putting runners on second and third with one out, but Keltner proved too much as she retired the next two batters swinging to get out of the jam. Dominican added a couple insurance runs in the top of the seventh as Lapinid singled up the middle for the lone RBI of the inning and the Penguins kept the Warriors off the board once again in the bottom of the frame to secure the victory.
Dominican will conclude the tournament Sunday at 11:15 a.m. PST as it takes on Cal State Dominguez Hills on Field 2 at Great Park.
