Tigers Win Final Non-Conference Game of ‘09
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (Mar. 25, 2009) – A 10 day hiatus did not slow down the surging Occidental softball team, who claimed a 3-2 victory over the visiting Lewis & Clark (Ore.) Pioneers this afternoon on Bell Field in their final non-conference game of the season to push their overall record to 12-9.
The Tigers got on the board in the bottom of the first when Stephanie Egan drove in Olympia Powell with a double to right field. In the third inning Oxy added to their lead when a two-out rally saw Gabriela Chavez reach on an error and advanced to second base on the play. Alyssa Escalante then singled to left field, sending Chavez racing home to put Oxy up by a pair.
Occidental held the Pioneers scoreless through four, but in the fifth Lewis & Clark scored twice on three hits, knotting the game.
With the pressure on the Tigers in the bottom of the frame, they again came back to take a 3-2 lead and ultimately the game. Chavez showed her patience at the plate, drawing a lead-off walk. With two outs Alyssa Smith reached on one of three Pioneers’ errors in the game, allowing the Oxy shortstop to score the winning run from second base.
Freshman pitcher Shanna Yackel (7-5) retired the first two batters of the seventh on two pitches before forcing a groundball to first base, ending things. She scattered eight hits and struck out three batters.
Escalante, the junior backstop, cut down a runner trying to steal second in the fourth when Chavez applied the tag with plenty of time to spare after LC led off the inning with a single. Smith was responsible for 12 putouts at first base and both Egan and Tasha Serna-Gallegos had a putout and five assists at third base and second base, respectively. Eight of the nine position players recorded either an assist or a putout.
Occidental will resume play in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference on Saturday when they travel to La Verne to play the Leopards for a pair. Sunday the Tigers will return home to play a rescheduled double-header with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Bell Field. Both series with begin at noon.
