The University of Redlands softball team made the trip to East
Texas Baptist University for the First Round of the NCAA
Championships and suffered an early exit from the tournament by
losing both games on the opening day.
The No. 18 Bulldogs kicked of the double-elimination tournament in
Marshall, TX, with a tough 1-2 loss to No. 4 University of
Texas-Tyler.
The Patriots initiated the scoring in the first inning with
back-to-back doubles.
Redlands responded in the second inning as senior left fielder Roxy
Lambert (La Jolla, CA) drove a ball to left field, scoring junior
designated player Amanda Doeppel (Monrovia, CA) to tie the game at
one.
The game remained knotted until the top of the fifth inning when UT
Tyler walked in what would become the winning run.
With the loss, the Bulldogs faced top-ranked Linfield College (OR)
in the final game of the day.
The Wildcats jumped out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the
first inning.
After 2 ½ innings without a hit for either team, Linfield
capitalized on an error and two hits in the fourth to score two
more runs.
Down by five, Redlands battled back with four runs in the top of
the fifth inning. Doeppel doubled to right center and then freshman
right fielder Breanna Reulas (Brawley, CA) walked. With two outs,
freshman shortstop Kai Masutani (Honolulu, HI) singled to right
field to load the bases. Junior catcher Nicky Neumann (Fremont, CA)
stepped up to the plate and knocked in two runs with a double to
left center. Junior center fielder Kayla Peterson (San Jose, CA)
followed suit with a two-RBI single up the middle to move the
Bulldogs within one.
However, Linfield steadily scored runs in each of the remaining
innings while Redlands mustered only one, resulting in a 5-8 loss
for the Maroon and Gray.
Neumann accounted for three of the team's seven hits, while
Peterson provided three RBI.
Neumann landed on the All-Tournament Team as an at-large
honoree. During the First Round of the NCAA Championships,
she went 3-for-7 at the plate with one double. She provided
two RBI, one run, and four total bases for a slugging percentage of
.571. She also made seven putouts and two assists with no
errors as the Bulldogs' starting catcher.
Redlands finished out the 2009 campaign with a 30-12 record,
boasting at least 30 wins for the fifth year in a row.
