April 28, 2013
Box Score
Game 1 Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The University of San Diego softball team split their doubleheader at Loyola Marymount on Sunday afternoon. LMU (30-21, 13-7) got a walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth to take game one 3-1 before USD (22-27, 7-13) captured the final game of the series with a 6-3 victory. LMU took the series three games to one.
Game one started out slowly for each team, although USD got runners in scoring position in the second, fourth and fifth innings but was unable to push any runs across. LMU finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with a leadoff home run by Alvarez that gave the Lions a 1-0 lead.
The Toreros answered in the top of the sixth when Chloe Kaneko reached on an error by the LMU shortstop and was then knocked in when the next batter, Lauren Tomey, doubled her home to tie the game at 1-1.
In extra innings, USD had a great opportunity to break the tie in the top of the eighth when they loaded the bases with two outs, but a strikeout ended the inning.
LMU turned around and won it in the bottom half of the inning when Shuster connected for the game-winning two-run homer, her fourth long ball of the series.
USD starter Cassidy Coleman (12-12) took the loss despite striking out at least 10 batters for the third straight start. Coleman threw 7.2 innings where she allowed three runs on four hits while striking out 10 and walking one. Coleman is now 11 strikeouts away from breaking USD's career strikeout record, which is 447 and was set by Jennifer Ellenbeck (2007-10).
Offensively, Caitlin Rooney (2-for-2) had a multi-hit game for USD and reached base in all four trips to the plate.
In game two, the Toreros got another strong pitching outing, this time by Jenny Lahitte. Lahitte earned the complete game victory with the help of a four-run second inning by USD that gave them an early lead. Kylie Ordos hit an RBI triple in the inning, followed by RBI singles by Kimberlee Shimizu and Morgan Kurtz and an RBI groundout by Tatum Schultz.
The Lions answered right back, however, by cutting the lead to 4-2 on a two-run, two-out triple in the bottom of the second.
Schultz helped USD get some insurance with a run-scoring single in the top of the third that put the Toreros up 5-2.
USD had runners in scoring position in each of the next three innings but didn't score a run until the top of the seventh when Schultz delivered a two-out triple to right center and then scored on a wild pitch to give USD a 6-2 advantage.
Lahitte, meanwhile, worked out of a couple of jams of her own. LMU put runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the sixth before Lahitte got a popup and a strikeout to end the threat. The Lions then took advantage of two USD errors in the bottom of the seventh to load the bases with no outs. Lahitte eventually worked out of the jam by only allowing one unearned run, which came on a USD fielding error, and closed out the game by leaving the bases loaded.
Altogether, Lahitte (9-14) threw 7.0 innings in picking up the victory, allowing three runs (none earned) on six hits, while striking out six and walking five.
Kurtz (2-for-5, RBI), Rooney (2-for-4), Swanberg (2-for-4, R) and Schultz (2-for-4, 2 RBI, R) all turned in multiple hit games for the Toreros in game two. USD's 13 hits as a team in game two were one shy of the season high of 14 (vs. Fresno State, 2/17).
USD closes out the 2013 regular season May 4-5 when they travel to face Santa Clara in a four-game PCSC series.
