WAVERLY, Iowa – The University of Redlands softball team (40-4) won their 30th-straight game, 6-4, over No. 3 Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU) Friday morning during the second round of the Wartburg Regional as they became only the second team in program history, along with last season's, to reach the 40-win plateau.
Natalie Lowthers (Wrightwood, CA) made it 1-0 in the top of the first with a single to right center that scored Brooklyn Bard (Long Beach, CA) who reached earlier on a single before moving into scoring position following a stolen base.
The very next inning the Bulldogs kept the bats going with Adyson Kim (Millbrae, CA) doubling down the left field line before coming around after an infield error and a Natalie Lopez (Long Beach, CA) sacrifice fly to center making the score 2-0. The second run of the inning came on a Leila Gomez (San Bernardino, CA) RBI triple to right center, which allowed Avery Provenzano (San Jose, CA) to come around.
After a scoreless stretch of four innings, Jenay Scott (Merced, CA), Kim, and Provenzano each had RBI singles to extend the Bulldog lead to six, 6-0, in the top of the seventh.
The extra three runs would be critical, because despite shutting the Titans out for six innings, IWU would have the first two batters reach in the bottom half before a three-run home run cut the lead in half. Following a foul out, a solo home run then made it a 6-4 game. But Caitlynn Griffith (Pala, CA) was able to settle down getting a strikeout and a lineout to end the game for her fifth save of the season.
The U of R offense saw eight different players record a hit with Gomez, Katlyn Gandara (Whittier, CA), Maya Holshoe (Redlands, CA), and Kim leading the way with two hits each.
In the circle Gandara got her 20th win on the season after five shutout innings on only 59 pitches. Griffith got the save with four strikeouts across the final two frames.
Redlands advances to championship Saturday where they will need only one win to advance to the super regional round. They could play any of the three other teams, No. 2 Wartburg College, No. 3 IWU, or No. 4 Dominican University (Illinois). The first game is at 9:00 a.m. pacific time with the if necessary, game two 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
