The 12th-ranked University of Redlands softball team faced an uncharacteristic hiccup in its season by dropping two more games to No. 18 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday. Despite cranking out 14 hits in the doubleheader, the Bulldogs struggled to push runs across en route to the 3-8 and 1-5 losses.
The back-to-back defeats follow twin bill losses to CMS and then-top-ranked Linfield College (OR), making it the program's first six-game skid since the 2002 season.
Redlands initiated the scoring with a one-run showing in the first inning of the opener when freshman Amanda Lievanos (Anaheim, CA) connected on an RBI-single to bring home freshman short stop Amanda Clark (Riverside, CA).
Unfortunately, the Athenas quickly answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning and then tallied a four-run performance in the third.
The Bulldogs rallied for two scores in the top of the fifth by rattling off five hits. After the team loaded the bases with consecutive singles, junior catcher Kai Masutani (Honolulu, HI) provided a sacrifice fly to score senior first baseman Lizett Casillas (Pomona, CA). Freshman left fielder Janelle Carrasco (Whittier, CA) then stepped up with an RBI-double, sending junior second baseman Molly Duran (Corona, CA) across the plate.
However, Redlands' scoring ended there, resulting in the difficult loss.
The bottom two-thirds of the order provided a solid offensive effort for the Bulldogs, with all but one batter connecting on two hits during the game. However, the Maroon and Gray struggled with RBI, leaving eight runners stranded.
Making her first career start, freshman pitcher Rachael Hachadorian (San Diego, CA) took the loss after 2.2 innings of work. Freshman Gabrielle Sciuto (Poway, CA) finished out the game, throwing 3.1 innings while giving up just two hits and one run.
While their bats went quiet, the Bulldogs faced an early one-run deficit in game two and never recovered.
Redlands finally evened the score in the top of the fourth when Casillas connected on an RBI-single to bring home sophomore center fielder Sarah Beeman (Corona, CA).
But the Athenas continued to score in each of the subsequent innings, slowly putting the game out of reach for the Maroon and Gray.
Besides Casillas, Clark and senior third baseman Aleisha Martinez (Escondido, CA) recorded the only hits for Redlands during the night cap.
Sophomore hurler Kayla Uphold (Fontana, CA) threw a complete game for the Bulldogs but suffered her third loss in as many appearances.
The Bulldogs (21-7, 10-4 SCIAC) strive to correct their recent slide on Saturday when they host Whittier College in a SCIAC doubleheader at 12 noon on the "Field of Dreams."
