SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Dominican softball could not hold on late against Jessup as a pair of seventh-inning rallies resulted in 5-4 and 2-1 losses Saturday at Penguin Field.
Annabelle Burke led the Penguins (16-16, 10-8 PacWest) finishing 4-for-7 with two doublds and two RBI, while
Tiare Guerrero finished 3-for-6 with three runs scored and four stolen bases.
Game 1
After Dominican retired the first nine batters of the game on defense, the offense finally found a groove in the bottom of the third as
Morgan Heggstrom doubled to left field. While Heggstrom's runner would not end up scoring, the Penguins settled in and used patience to their advantage with two hit by pitches and two walks pushed a pair of runners across for the 2-0 lead. The Warriors (18-15, 13-9 PacWest) looked poised to cut into the lead in the top of the fifth as Kylie Nunes was hit by a pitch, stole second and advanced to third on a fly ball, but she was stopped there as
Kelissa Lee collected a fly ball to center to end the frame.
Guerrero singled to short and stole second in the bottom of the fifth to get Dominican into scoring position before the second at bat of the inning. Burke made the most of it as she doubled to deep center to bring her home and advancing to third as a poor throw home got away from the catcher.
Leslie Ruiz skied one to center to give Burke enough time to come home for the 4-0 lead heading into the sixth. Maddy Ybarra doubled to right center and came home when Aaliyah Tinoco singled to right to cut a run off the lead in the sixth.
Dominican looked poised for the victory with the bottom of the lineup due up in the seventh and a 3-run lead, but three straight singles loaded the bases bringing up the top of the order with one out. Maliya Lawson took the second pitch she saw just inside the foul pole down the right-field line for a grand slam to take the lead and the Penguins were unable to bounce back in the bottom of the frame.
Game 2
Each team left runners stranded in scoring position in the first and Dominican did so again in the second as the scoring began to dry up in the afternoon heat. Guerrero and Burke connected again to open the scoring in the third as Guerrero singled down the third-base line and Burke doubled off the glove of the third baseman to bring her home for the 1-0 lead.
The lead would not last long as Maddy Ybarra homered to left field to lead off the top of the fourth and the teams continued to leave runners stranded at second over the next three innings. Once again the bottom of the order got on base for the Warriors with Alexis Vega opening the top of the seventh with a single and moving to second on a sacrifice. Lawson once again delivered the clutch hit as she singled on a rocket that hit off the first baseman's glove and into right to bring Vega home for the 2-1 lead. The Penguins steadied the ship and left runners stranded at second and third to keep themselves in the game.
Jadyn Magnusson singled with two outs to start a late comeback attempt. Burke singled on to shallow center on the next at bat to put runners at the corners with Burke taking second on a catcher's indifference.
Leslie Ruiz worked her way into a full count but Nohemi Livingston was able to paint the inside corner of the plate to catch her looking on strike three to cap her victory.
Dominican will have a week off before returning to face San Francisco State on Tuesday, April 7 at SFSU Softball Field with the first pitch of the doubleheader at noon PDT.
