IRVINE, Calif. – Dominican softball split its second day of the Concordia Kickoff Classic falling 3-0 to No. 2 Cal State Dominguez Hills before topping Colorado Mesa 2-0 in the nightcap at the Great Park.
 
Shelby Keltner led the Penguins (2-2) from the circle in the second game as she pitched a complete game with 14 strikeouts, a new career-high and one short of tying Katelyn Harden's single game Dominican record of 15 strikeouts in a game.
 
Game One
 
The first game saw limited offense from both teams as the pitching ruled the afternooon. Taylor Rodriguez saw the first start of her Dominican career and after allowing back-to-back singles to start the day, she settled in and induced three consecutive popups to leave the runners stranded. Caitlyn Perales singled in the bottom of the frame and advanced to second on a soft grounder, but she too ended up stranded after Alyssa Olague caught a batter looking for the final out of the innning.
 
The Toros once again worked runners into scoring position in the top of the second as Jay Ross singled through the left side and Kaylee Hull drew a walk. Amara Labonog pinch hit with the runners in scoring position and delivered a single up the middle on the first pitch she saw to score one. Raquel Jaime then sent a long fly ball to right to bring in one more on the sacrifice and extend the CSUDH lead to 2-0. 
 
It was all the room Olague needed as she did not allow a base runner for the remainder of the game to earn the victory. Rodriguez also settled in only allowing one base runner over the next two innings before Jayla Cadena came in to relieve her and pitched three innings of solid relief allowing only one hit and one earned run. 
 
Game Two
 
The Penguins brought the heat early in the second game of the day as Melissa Garcia was awarded first on a catcher's interference and Perales drew a walk before with a sacrifice bunt moving both into scoring position with one out in the inning. Kennedy Vis worked out of the jam as she retired the next two batters for the Mavericks. Myah Arrieta singled on a bunt in the bottom of the frame and stole second before moving to third on a throwing error with to give Mesa its first scoring opportunity, but Keltner made sure nothing come from it as she struck out a pair of batters to end the inning. 
 
Annabelle Burke singled up the middle to lead off the top of the second with Alexis Abalos coming in to pinch run for her. Abalos made her way to third after a sacrifice bunt and a groundout to second to bring freshman Marina Medina to the plate with two outs. Medina hit a hard ball back to the pitcher who struggled to gather it and then threw low to first allowing Abalos to come home for the first run of the game. Keltner then retired the side in the bottom of the frame with a pair of strikeouts looking to take a 1-0 lead into the third.
 
A walk and a single put a pair of runners on for the Mavericks with no outs in the bottom of the third as they looked to tie the game, but a fly out and two more strikeouts from Keltner ended the threat quickly to keep Dominican in the lead. Keltner then beat out a throw to first after a hard hit ball was mishandled by the Maverick's third baseman and Dani Ramos came in to pinch run for her. Ramos made her way to third on a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt before Kama Kaleikini sent a high fly ball deep to center to bring her home for the 2-0 lead. 
 
Keltner continued to dominate in the circle, striking out six of the next eight batters she faced to keep the Penguins firmly in control heading to the final frame of the game. Keltner kept it rolling as the first batter flied out to Alicia Garcia in right and Keltner then caught the next two batters swinging to move to 2-1 on the year.
 
Dominican will conclude its action at the Concordia Kickoff Classic against Western Washington at 9 a.m. PST Sunday on Field 3 of the Great Park.