Tigers Take Two on the Diamond
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (March 1, 2009) – New month, new beginning. Today on Bell Field the Occidental softball team hosted Patten University and walked away with a pair of victories. The Tigers collected 18 hits, scoring 10 runs en route to their first two wins of the season.
In the opening game of the twin bill Patten’s leadoff batter reached and scored, but that was as much scoring as they would do as freshman pitcher Shanna Yackel scattered three hits while striking out 11 as she earned her first collegiate victory today. Yackel struck out at least one batter in all but the fourth inning.
On the other hand, the Tiger manufactured five runs on six hits while drawing four walks. Shortstop Gabriela Chavez knotted the game up in the bottom of the first as she dove home safely on a pass ball. Oxy then broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning when Alyssa Smith continued her offensive onslaught, driving in two on a single to right field.
Designated player Lindsay Gross drew a walk to lead off the sixth and freshman left fielder Nicole Hannasch singled before centerfielder Olympia Powell drove them in to add a cushion to the lead.
Game two was almost a carbon copy of the opening game of the day. Patten struck first with a run in the first inning, but Occidental retaliated with a pair of their own.
The sophomore duo of Chavez and Stephanie Egan picked up back-to-back singles, with Egan’s driving in Chavez who stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Egan then scored two batters later when Smith again found a gap in right field for her sixth hit of the weekend.
Again Patten pushed a run across the board in the top of the second to knot the game at 2-2. Not for long, though, as Occidental looked to Gross to get things started with a single to left field. Powell then connected for a two-out single down the left field line, scoring Gross, the ultimate winning run.
The Tigers would tack on two more in the fourth inning when Oxy got four consecutive hits from Rebecca Nashleanas, Powell, Chavez and Egan.
Freshman Kimi Elguea was the winning pitcher, going the distance for the Tigers. She scattered eight hits, allowed one earned run and struck out three in 7.0 innings of work.
Overall on the day Egan and Powell collected four hits apiece, driving in three and two, respectively, scoring twice and once apiece. Smith drove in three on two hits. Chavez scored four of the Tigers’ 10 runs and Gross crossed the plate twice and walked a pair of times. Nashleanas connected for three hits and Tasha Serna-Gallegos had one hit as well.
The Tigers were solid in the field, committing just two errors. Serna-Gallegos recorded six putouts and eight assists at second base and Chavez had five assists and five putouts. Alyssa Escalante caught a potential base stealer in game two and the Tigers ended the sixth with a double-play.
Occidental improves to 2-6 on the season and will return to conference play on Saturday, March 7 when they host Pomona-Pitzer for a pair beginning at noon on Bell Field.
