LA MIRADA, Calif. –
Kate Tobola lifted Dominican softball past Biola 4-3 in the series finale Tuesday at Freedom Field.
Tobola led the Penguins (15-12, 6-5 PacWest) from the plate going 2-for-3 with a triple, a home run, two runs scored and two RBI.
Annabelle Burke accounted for the only other run of the game as she went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while
Kassidy Stetler earned the victory pitching 5.2 innings in relief allowing one hit and no runs. Jackie Ibarra led the Eagles (15-10, 9-2 PacWest) for the second straight day with a 2-for-4 day at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.
Tobola sparked Dominican from her first at bat as she tripled into the gap in right center showing no hesitation at second as she hustled into third well ahead of the ball. Burke then laid down a suicide squeeze perfectly in between home and the circle to allow Tobola to come home for the 1-0 lead.
Taylor Rodriguez singled up the middle and
Taylor Eby walked to load the bases with two outs for
Melissa Garcia. Garcia looked at the first two pitches before sending the third straight up the middle to bring home Burke for the 2-0 lead but Mikala Huskey did well charging the ball and throwing home to stop any further runs from crossing the plate.
Ibarra singled through the right side to lead off the side for Biola in the bottom of frame and an error on a sacrifice bunt allowed her to take third. Ibarra eventually came home on a sacrifice fly to trim the deficit in half, but nothing else came of the inning as Alexa Medley took off on a fly ball that
Leslie Ruiz tracked down in foul territory to make the catch before throwing to first for the inning ending double play.
Huskey doubled with one out in the bottom of the second with an error and a single loading the bases. Leilani Salgado singled to right field to bring home a run to tie the game and Ibarra singled to right center to take the 3-2 lead. Stetler entered and got Medley to popout to
Tiare Guerrero at second before a fly out to
Leslie Ruiz in right field ended the inning.
Kennadie Tsue singled in the bottom of the third and advanced on a sacrifice bunt, but once again it was baserunning that hurt the Eagles as Tsue got caught in between second and third before being tagged out to end the inning.
Payton Oas swung at the first pitch she saw in the series as her slap was placed perfectly between the pitcher and third base for a single in the top of the fourth. Tobola then came up with two outs and sent a no-doubter over the fence in center field to take the 4-3 lead. That was all the lead Stetler needed as she did not allow another runner on the base paths for Biola over the final four innings to move to 4-3 on the year.
Dominican will look to continue its momentum at Azusa Pacific for a four-game series beginning Thursday with first pitch at 4 p.m. PDT at Cougar Softball Field.
