REDLANDS, Calif. – The University of Redlands softball team (3-3) dropped their doubleheader with No. 3 Linfield University Friday afternoon falling 6-0 and 6-4 at the Field of Dreams.
Game 1 (L, 6-0)
The Wildcats jumped out in front in their opening at-bats scoring four times.
After Katlyn Gandara (Whittier, CA) shut them down in the top of the second, Jenay Scott (Merced, CA) and Natalie Lowthers (Wrightwood, CA) had back-to-back singles to begin the bottom half. The next three batters, though, struck out, fouled out, and grounded out to end the threat.
In the third the Bulldogs had another two runners on base after a Brooklyn Bard (Long Beach, CA) single and a walk drawn by Leila Jackson (Vallejo, CA). But the scoring opportunity would end on a ground out.
Redlands left two on in the fourth and the bases loaded in the seventh.
Lowthers and Leila Gomez (San Bernardino, CA) each had a pair of hits, while Gandara went 6.2 innings with six runs allowed picking up her first loss of the season.
Game 2 (L, 6-4)
It looked like it was going to be the same type of game to begin the second of the doubleheader as the Wildcats had three runs in the first and found themselves up 6-0 after five and a half.
In the bottom of the sixth, though, Maya Holshoe (Redlands, CA) pinch hit and was hit by a pitch. After a Wildcat fielding error, a foul out, and a sacrifice fly from Gandara, it was 6-1 with Bard at second and two outs.
Jackson, Scott, and Lowthers then went single, triple, double to make it 6-4. They would be held there though, but it was the closest it had been since the top of the first.
In the seventh Caitlynn Griffith (Pala, CA) retired Linfield in order to set up the offense needing only two runs. Despite momentum from the last at bats, Redlands would be unable to muster any base runners against the Wildcats' starter from game one who got the save.
Scott had two hits as Redlands somehow was more competitive in a game with five hits than they were in the first game where they had eight.
The Bulldogs welcome their third Northwest Conference (NWC) opponent on Sunday, March 1 as Lewis & Clark College plays a doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
