SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican softball dropped 2-0 and 5-4 games against Azusa Pacific on Saturday afternoon at Penguin Field.
 
Peyton Mott had one of her best days as a senior going 3-for-7 with a double and an RBI for the Penguins, a line matched by shortstop Lauren Lapinid.
 
Game one
The first game was a pitching duel between the two teams with the Cougars duo of Aly Montesino and Katie Korstrom coming out on top after combining for the shutout. The first three innings were largely uneventful with Lapinid spearheading a defensive highlight as she scooped up a groundball and threw to Faith Erb at second to get the speedy Ally Chin before Erb turned and threw to Alicia Garcia to complete an inning ending double play in the third.
 
Dani Burghardt singled to lead off the top of the fourth and Amanda Woods followed up with a two-run shot over the left-field fence to take the 2-0 lead. After APU put runners on the corners with one out, Dominican turned to Shelby Keltner who got a strikeout followed by a fly out to center on six pitches to quickly end the threat.
 
The Penguin offense came alive in the bottom of the frame as Lapinid, Keltner and Mott all singled but poor base running resulted in two outs leaving them without a run to show for their work. Dominican found itself in a similar position as Helena Harris and Erb singled in the bottom of the fifth but once again the Cougars caught the Penguins trying to take the extra base resulting in a crucial out that helped them escape the jam. Dominican was unable to muster any more chances to cut into the lead as Korstrom entered and allowed only one baserunner over the final two frames of the game for the save.
 
Game two
Woods singled to second and advanced into scoring position on a sacrifice before Aleah Delgado singled to right center to give APU the early 1-0 lead in the second. After the Cougars loaded the bases with one out, Chin singled to shallow center to score one more as Mott threw home to hold the runner at third. The defense came through as Erb fielded a groundball at second and threw home for the force out before Mott made a running catch on a shallow popup to center to end the inning.
 
Melissa Garcia doubled to right center in the bottom of the third to get Dominican into scoring position with one out and Lapinid delivered a single back up the middle to bring her home, cutting the lead in half. Delgado doubled to lead off the top of the fourth and advanced on a fly ball before scoring on a groundout to provide the Cougar response and rebuild the two-run lead.
 
The Penguin bats came alive once again in the bottom of the fifth as M. Garcia and Lapinid singled before A. Garcia drew a walk to load the bases. Mady Salonga came through with the clutch 2-out single as it was just out of the reach of a diving shortstop allowing two runs to come home and tie the game.
 
After neither team scored in the sixth, a throwing error prolonged the inning to allow two APU runs to score to retake the 5-3 lead in the seventh. Kama Kaleikini doubled to center with two outs and Mott followed with a double of her own to cut the deficit to one, but Korstrom entered and got the final out for her second save of the day.
 
Dominican will conclude its season Saturday against Holy Names at Chabot College Softball Field in Hayward.