LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne softball team finished their series against the University of Redlands Bulldogs Saturday afternoon, falling short in the comeback in game two and spitting the double-header.

Game One: La Verne 5, Redlands 3

The Leopards overcame an early deficit with a rally in the bottom of the fifth inning. La Verne capitalized on the Bulldogs' errors inning and maintained the lead for the win after a run-rule loss a day prior.

Momentum changed with the Leopards trailing 3-2 after sophomore Isabella Garcia led off the fifth with a single, and junior Ashley Rodriguez reached first base on a fielding error by the second baseman. Cassandra Zapata also reached first on a throwing error that sent Garcia home.

The tying run crossed home after Marissa Acosta reached on a fielder's choice. Then Alyssa Campbell reached safely and Zapata scored on the third Redlands' error to give La Verne a 4-3 lead. An RBI ground out by Sydney Diaz scored Acosta to put La Verne up by two. The Leopards held on for their first conference win.

Pitcher Kirstin Sanchez improved to 4-2 in the complete game win, allowing just one earned run. 

Angelina Alderete added an RBI in the third to get the Leopards' on the board.

Game Two: Redlands 6, La Verne 5

The Leopards started strong, going up 3-0 in the first inning, but the Bulldogs did not shy away as they strung along, keeping it close throughout six innings. La Verne held a 5-4 lead going into the seventh, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the top half of the inning, and the Leopards couldn't match it in their at-bat.

Cassandra Zapata led the Leopards, going 2-4, and brought in two runs.

Ashley Rodriguez reached first on a fielding error in the first that brought in a run and added one hit.

Sydney Diaz added an RBI in the sixth.

From the Coach

"I thought we did a great job of coming in with a new game plan today for the mound. Kirstin did an amazing job executing everything that we talked about. Then the other side of that was our hitting. We were able to play simple softball, get people on, move them over, score, and then capitalize on their mistakes. We recognized that they were having a hard time on defense, so we just continued to apply pressure, and I felt like that was what made us successful.

"We took the momentum going into game two and scored right off the bat. We could've done a better job executing in some of our spots. We still had opportunities to score more with bases loaded and things like that. A lot of errors cost them today and the same thing on our end. They did a great job capitalizing on some of our mistakes, but overall I'm happy with what we produced this weekend. I think it was a great tell that we can compete with anybody in this conference and we're just excited to be able to showcase that for the rest of the season," said La Verne Interim softball head coach Tara Anaya.
 

Next Game

La Verne will take on Williams College on March 20th at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m.