The No. 11 University of Redlands softball team suffered a two-game setback against the University of La Verne on Saturday, slipping into third place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) standings with 14 games to go.  The Bulldogs faced an early deficit in both contests and struggled to rally from behind, resulting in the 1-5 loss during the opener and the 4-14 defeat in the night cap.

During the first game, La Verne scored two in the bottom of the first and then tacked on three more in the fifth to create a solid lead.  The Bulldogs mustered one run in the top of the seventh, with freshman shortstop Vicki King (Thousand Oaks, CA) reaching on a fielder's choice to plate freshman left-fielder Grace Rose (Villa Park, CA), who also reached on a fielder's choice.

Senior pitcher Kayla Uphold (Fontana, CA) suffered the loss after five innings.  She struck out three in the process.

The second game saw the Bulldog battery struggle through a high-octane Leopard attack.   La Verne fired off 18 hits, while the Bulldogs utilized three different pitchers.

After the Leopards jumped out to an 8-0 lead through two innings, the Bulldogs rallied for four runs in the top of the fifth with two outs.  Senior center-fielder Sarah Beeman (Corona, CA) laced a two-run triple to left field to breathe new life into the Maroon and Gray.  Sophomore utility player Nikoli Sharp (Lincoln, CA) followed suit with an RBI-single and then King uncorked a run-scoring triple of her own.

However, La Verne answered right back to take a 10-run lead after five innings, resulting in the difficult loss for Redlands.

Junior pitcher Kaitlyn Hooper (Riverside, CA) took the loss from the circle for the Maroon and Gray.

The Bulldogs (15-7, 9-5 SCIAC) face a quick turnaround with Monday's non-conference twin bill with Williams College (MA), beginning at 2 p.m. at the "Field of Dreams."