SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican softball fell 11-4 to Western Washington on a windy Wednesday afternoon at Penguin Field.
Alicia Garcia provided the biggest scoring spark for the Penguins (20-16) off the bench with a three-run home run while
Tiare Guerrero went 2-for-4 and
Taylor Eby was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI. Maleah Andrews went 4-for-4 with a double and three runs scored, while Hailey Rath went 3-for-3 with six RBI for the Vikings (20-8).
Andrews led off the game with a single to right center before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt. Rath doubled to center to bring her home on a ball that hung up and twisted in the wind. Rath scored on an error by second base to push the lead to 2-0 for WWU. Laila Carpenter added to the run total in the top of the second as she led off with a double to left field before a pair of fly outs moved her to third and home.
Morgan Saucedo singled through the left side for Dominican's first hit of the game and
Melissa Garcia singled through the right side to put a runner in scoring position, but Kaiana Kong collected a line drive back to the circle and through to first to prevent any runs from crossing.
After Rath walked in the top of the third, Emma Andrewjeski homered to left to push the lead to 5-0 in favor of the Vikings.
Kelissa Lee walked and
Kate Tobola reached on an error before
Tiare Guerrero singled to center to load the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame. Kong once again escaped the jam with three consecutive hits in the infield to prevent a run from crossing. An error then prolonged the top of the fourth with two on and two outs and Rath made the most of the opportunity sending a line drive over the left-field fence for the 8-0 lead.
The Penguins would not be run ruled as
Melissa Garcia was hit by a pitch and a muffed catch at second allowed
Aneesa Brewer to reach safely. Garcia entered to pinch hit and took a ball over the fence in right center to close the gap to 8-3 heading to the fifth.
Taylor Rodriguez singled up the middle and Eby doubled down the left-field line with the wind pushing the ball into the corner to bring Rodriguez all the way around to cut the deficit to four heading into the sixth.
The comeback was not meant to be as Rath capped a three-run inning with her second home run of the day and Alli Kimball came in to pitch two scoreless innings for the Vikings in relief.
Dominican will resume conference play Saturday as it hosts Menlo in a doubleheader beginning at noon PDT.
