REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands Softball team completed the sweep of their Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) series with Whittier College on Saturday afternoon as they made two more comebacks to win game one 5-4 and game two 16-8.
Redlands completes the sweep over the Poets improving to 22-8, 8-3 SCIAC and have now taken each conference series on the season with the three-game stretch against the Purple & Gold being the first sweep over a SCIAC opponent.
Game 1 (W, 5-4)
The Bulldogs and Poets were scoreless for the first five innings before the Poets scored three times in the fifth.
In the sixth trailing 3-0 the Bulldogs rallied with three runs to tie the game. With two-outs and a runner on first the U of R put together a rally with Katlyn Gandara (Whittier, CA) singling to left field putting two-runners on. Kassidy Long (Hemet, CA) followed with a walk that loaded the bases and that then led to Paige Messenlehner (Fresno, CA) who singled up the middle plating two runs. The game-tying run would also score due to a throwing error on the infield allowing Natalie Horton (Palmdale, CA) to come in.
The Poets used their fifth inning offensive momentum to reclaim the lead 4-3 in the seventh inning. But in the bottom half Redlands would not go away quietly putting together a comeback that led to a walk-off. Adyson Kim (Millbrae, CA) led off the inning with a double to right center. Two-batters later Ashley Shelton (Jurupa Valley, CA) singled putting runners on the corners. Kayla Jackson (Bishop, CA) came in as a pinch runner and would steal second putting two-runners in scoring position with one out. Brooklyn Bard (Garden Grove, CA) then singled to right bringing in one and that then led to Horton putting one on the infield that allowed Jackson to come in and score sending the Bulldogs to the 5-4 come from behind victory.
Gandara came out of the bullpen and threw the final 2.2 innings giving up an unearned run on two hits as she recorded her 12th win of the season. Bard finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, Messenlehner was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and Kim was 1-for-3 with a run scored.
Game 2 (W, 8-6 | 6-Innings)
After slow starts in the first two games of the series, it was the Bulldog offense that scored four times in the first inning. Long and Kim singled home Bard and Gandara, Leila Jackson (Vallejo, CA) scored Messenlehner on a single, and Isabella Culp (Bayliss, CA) made it 4-0 on an infield single.
The Poets got a run back in the second, but the Bulldogs held a 7-1 lead after three innings as Gandara and Messenlehner each picked up RBI's in the second followed by Shelton who hit a sacrifice fly to left in the third.
Whittier would make their first comeback of the series as they scored seven total runs across the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings as they went from down six to up one, 8-7.
In a crazy turn of events, Redlands responded to the 7-0 Whittier run and two-run top half of the inning with a nine-run bottom of the sixth as they run-ruled the Poets grabbing the sweep.
During the offensive frame L. Jackson had a two-run single for the game-winning hit, Horton had a two-run triple, Bard singled home Horton, after a fielding error allowed two to score, and Kim had the game-ending RBI on a sacrifice fly to left.
Brianna Garcia (Riverside, CA) got the start and left with the no decision after throwing 4.1 Innings giving up four runs on eight hits. Gandara came in relief throwing the top-half of the sixth inning collected her 13th win on the season despite giving up an earned run on four hits. Horton finished 2-for-5 with two RBI's and two runs scored. Gandara was 3-for-4 scoring three times and driving in another, L. Jackson was 2-for-2 scoring twice and driving in three, and Kim was 1-for-4 scoring twice and driving in another two.
Redlands will open a three-game series at home against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps next Friday, April 12 beginning at 3:00 p.m. at The Field of Dreams.
