The University of Redlands softball team dropped two games to
No. 11 Linfield College (OR) on Sunday in a non-conference
doubleheader at the Softball "Field of Dreams". The Bulldogs
battled it out in the opener but came up short in the final two
innings, resulting in the 4-7 decision. During the nightcap, the
Maroon and Gray struggled to counter the Wildcats' powerful
offense, which led to a 2-10 loss.
In the first game of the twin bill, senior center field Kayla
Peterson (San Jose, CA) initiated Redlands' scoring with a homerun
in the bottom of the first inning.
The Bulldogs took a 3-0 lead after three by scoring one run in
each of the subsequent innings. First, sophomore right fielder
Kirstie Bender (Lakewood, CA) posted an RBI-single up the middle to
score junior first baseman Lizett Casillas (Pomona, CA) from second
base. In the third inning, Casillas plated senior catcher Nicky
Neumann (Fremont, CA) on a single to center field.
However, the Wildcats answered in the top of the fourth with
their first of six home runs on the day and scored three runs to
make it a tied ball game.
Redlands rallied another run to gain a 4-3 advantage in the next
inning. Freshman short stop Kirsten Milliner (Torrance, CA) singled
to right center and then eventually scored on a run-down play at
first base.
Nonetheless, Linfield managed two more runs in each of the
remaining innings while holding the Bulldogs hitless to finish out
the game.
Despite fanning five batters, senior pitcher Olivia Ellis
(Colfax, CA) took the loss for Redlands with seven earned runs on
nine hits.
Unfortunately, the Bulldogs struggled to rally back in game two
and suffered their biggest loss of the season. After scoring one
run in the bottom of the third, Redlands' offense was held to just
one more run in the seventh, while the Wildcats scored 10 and
rattled off 13 hits.
Sophomore hurler Breanna Ruelas (Brawley, CA) suffered her first
loss since Jan. 20.
Redlands (14-6, 10-0 SCIAC) strives to rebound on Tuesday when
it travels to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges to face off against
non-conference opponent Tufts University (MA) at 5:30 p.m.
