SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Dominican softball dropped both games Friday against Azusa Pacific at Penguin Field, falling 6-0 in the opener before a 9-1 loss in five innings in game two.
Kate Tobola led the Penguins (17-19, 10-10 PacWest) at the plate across the twinbill, going 4-for-7 with two doubles.
Aneesa Brewer finished 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, while
Mia Souza gave Dominican 4.2 scoreless innings in relief in game one.
Game 1
The Cougars (21-21, 14-12 PacWest) jumped in front as Julia Doan and Alexus Corona hit a pair of solo shots in the first inning and Reagan Kunkle homered in the second to stretch the lead to 3-0 in the second. Corona singled up the middle to bring another run home in the third with Bella Fraser driving in two more with a double to left center to take a 6-0 lead.
Dominican put runners aboard throughout the afternoon, but could not break through against Ava Hernandez. Tobola,
Tiare Guerrero,
Ali Fierro and Brewer each collected a hit for the Penguins, while
Morgan Heggstrom and
Kelissa Lee drew walks.
Souza settled the game down out of the bullpen, allowing just two hits over the final 4.2 innings and keeping APU off the board the rest of the way.
Game 2
The Cougars again struck first with a run in the opening inning as Hannah Tipton singled up the middle to score Doan. An error then allowed another run to cross in the second, but the Penguins answered in the bottom half when Brewer lifted a solo home run over the fence in left to cut the deficit to 2-1.
The Penguins put together several scoring chances behind Tobola's three-hit game. Tobola doubled twice and singled, and
Annabelle Burke added a hit as Dominican finished with five hits, but Azusa Pacific pushed across two runs in the third and then broke the game open with five runs in the fifth to finish the doubleheader sweep.
The Penguins will continue the series against the Cougars  Saturday, with the doubleheader at Penguin Field set to begin at 10 a.m. PDT pending weather.
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