April 19, 2014
USD-LMU Game One Box
USD-LMU Game Two Box
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Celebrating senior day, the USD Softball team (21-19, 6-3) swept LMU (20-22, 1-8), scoring eight of their nine runs with two outs. In game one, the Toreros won 3-2 behind Kylie Ordos two RBI triple. In game two, the Toreros scored six runs in the second inning and held on to win 6-1. The Toreros have now won four in a row and move into a three-way tie for first place in the WCC with Pacific (6-3) and BYU (4-2), which had a bye this weekend.
In game one, the Toreros offense got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning when they strung together three straight hits with two outs. Mary Grabowski and Danielle Mavridis had back-to-back singles and then senior Kylie Ordos continued her hot streak with a two RBI triple to deep centerfield to give the Toreros a 2-0 lead.
The Lions answered right back in the fifth inning when their first batter, Stephanie Crist roped a solo home run down the leftfield line to cut the deficit to 2-1. Before the home run, Cassidy Coleman had allowed just one hit and had retired the last ten batters. The Lions went on to load the bases later in the inning, but Coleman was able to induce a lineout to the second baseman, Danielle Mavridis, to end the inning.
The Toreros and Lions each scored one run in their next at-bat. In the bottom of the fifth, Caitlin Rooney knocked home Dana Prelsnik with a RBI single up the middle. The Lions cut the lead back to one in the top of the sixth when Alex Finie hit a leadoff solo home run to left field. This brought the score to 3-2 and ended Cassidy Coleman's day. Jenny Lahitte entered the game and quickly found herself in hot water. After hitting her first batter, she later issued to walks to load the bases for the Lions' best hitter, Meghan Harman. With a full count, Lahitte got Harman to foul out to Chloe Kaneko, who made a nice play against the fence to end the Lions' rally and preserve the Toreros one-run lead.
Lahitte retired the Lions in order in the seventh inning to pick up her second save of the season. Together, she and Coleman stranded eight LMU runners. Coleman (11-9) earned her fifth win of WCC play and 11th of the season after giving up two solo home runs and three hits in five innings while striking out eight. The Lions' Stephanie Crist (1-10) was saddled with the loss after allowing three runs on nine hits.
In game two, the Toreros jumped on Lions' starter Rachael Farrington in the bottom of the second. They sent ten batters to the plate and collected seven hits and scored six runs, all coming with two outs. After the leadoff hitter grounded out, the next three batters hit singles to load the bases. After Charly Swanberg fouled out, Dana Prelsnik hit a RBI single through the left side to put USD on the board. Tatum Schultz then hit a two RBI double in the gap, followed by a two RBI single by Chloe Kaneko. Caitlin Rooney knocked Kaneko in with a double to bring the score to 6-0.
The Lions got their lone run in the top of the fourth when Stephanie Crist hit a solo home run to left field, her second of the day.
Jenny Lahitte (8-9) picked up the win, allowing just one run on six hits with eight strikeouts. Rachael Farrington (6-9) took the loss and lasted just two innings after giving up six runs.
The Toreros will leave San Diego for the first time since March 9 when they travel to Pacific next weekend for a three game series. First game is Saturday at 11:00 a.m.
