May 1, 2011

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

Video highlights from Lions' All-Access.

LOS ANGELES - LMU posted its second four-game sweep of the season with a pair of five-inning run-rule victories over Cal State Bakersfield in a Sunday Pacific Coast Softball Conference doubleheader at Smith Field. Freshmen Kathryn Dutton and Meghan Harman each hit two home runs as the Lions (28-25, 12-4 PCSC) combined to hit five round-trippers in running their winning streak to 10 games against the Roadrunners (15-33, 3-13 PCSC) with wins of 8-0 and 14-5.

On the heels of six home runs on Saturday, the Lions surpassed 50 for the season for the fourth time in school history. Whereas Saturday was all about juniors Kelly Sarginson (three homers) and Sam Fischer (two), Sunday saw the youngsters get in on the act as Dutton went deep in each game and Harman posted her first career two-homer game in the second outing. Sophomore Olivia Alvarez smacked the day's other home run. Not to be outdone, Sarginson chipped in three doubles and drove in six runs on the day to set the PCSC single-season RBI mark with 56.

LMU 8, Cal State Bakersfield 0 (5 inn.)
After a pair of one-run games on Saturday, LMU made no doubt about the outcome in Sunday's first game, scoring seven runs over the fourth and fifth innings for the run-rule victory. Fischer and Alvarez led the way with three hits apiece while Sarginson, Dutton, and freshman Samantha Nelson each drove in a pair of runs in support of sophomore Molly Medeiros' three-hitter.

For the second straight day, it was Fischer's bat that put the Lions on the board in the first game. Her run-scoring double to right-center brought home sophomore Danielle Smith, who had led off the game with a single. The score would stay at 1-0 until the fourth, when Dutton and Alvarez launched back-to-back homers. Dutton turned on the first pitch of the inning from Sarah Hoag and just cleared the fence in left. Two pitchers later, Alvarez went deep for the fourth time on the year to help boost the Lions' lead to 3-0.

The Lions blew the game open with a five-run fifth that featured doubles from Fischer, Sarginson, and Nelson. Following a leadoff single by junior Kylie Ahlo, Fischer mirrored her first-inning double with a shot into the right-centerfield gap, putting runners on second and third with no outs. With first base open, the Roadrunners elected to pitch to Sarginson, who had homered three times and drove in seven runs in Saturday's second game. Instead, Sarginson just missed a home run with a two-run ground-rule double to left-center. Following an infield single by Harman, Dutton made it 6-0 with a sacrifice fly and Nelson capped the day with a two-run double to left.

Medeiros improved to 14-7 on the year with a complete-game three-hitter. After allowing a pair of hits in the first, Medeiros retired the next 11 batters before a two-out single by Stefanie Frei in the fifth. Medeiros also got some help from her speedy outfielders. In the first, Nelson made a running backhanded stab of Jazmine Lee's liner to left to rob her of what was sure to be two bases. In the third, Smith made the long run in center to track down Frei's fly ball, making the catch at the fence.

Fischer's two doubles gave her 15 on the year, moving her into a tie for fourth on LMU's single-season list. Her 37 career two-baggers are tied for fifth all-time at LMU.

LMU 14, Cal State Bakersfield 5 (5 inn.)
Sarginson drove in four runs on a pair of doubles to break Izmena Cabrera's PCSC RBI record of 53 set in 2008 but it was Harman's first career two-homer game that helped spur the Lions to victory. The freshman went deep in the second and fifth innings and the Lions batted around in the second and third frames, scoring nine unanswered runs to overcome an early deficit.

Some first inning CSUB took its first lead of the day with a run on Ryane Petersen's single up the middle in the bottom of the first. The Roadrunners could have added to their tally if not for a pair of heads-up defensive plays by the Lions. First, Harman showed quick reflexes to snare Lee's liner and throw to first for a double play. Then, as Jamie Miller was scoring on Petersen's RBI single, Alvarez cut off Smith's throw from center and threw out Amy Ricciardi at third to end the inning and keep the damage at 1-0.

That would prove pivotal as Harman turned around and smacked Alyssa Walker's first pitch of the second inning over the fence in left for her sixth home run of the season. That seemed to jump-start the Lions, who batted around in the inning. Dutton followed with a single and Nelson added a single two batters later to put runners on first and third with one out. An error on Petersen at first allowed the go-ahead run to score and opened the door for the top of the Lion order. After Smith's sacrifice bunt, Ahlo made it 4-1 with a two-run single and Sarginson followed with her 53rd RBI of the season with a double to right-center.

CSUB pulled a pair of runs back in the second when Frei brought home Laura King, who had tripled with one out. Frei in turn would come home on Karissa Veiga's double down the leftfield line but the Roadrunners would leave two runners in scoring position when Lee popped up to end the inning.

That would be as close as the Roadrunners would get as LMU batted around for the second straight inning to put up five more in the third. Dutton's second homer of the day and eighth of the season got things going. An Alvarez single and Nelson double put runners on second and third and Smith walked to load the bases. With two outs, Fischer drew a four-pitch walk to force in a run and Sarginson followed with a bases-clearing double to right-center that made it 10-3.

LMU continued to add to its total with run-scoring singles in the fourth from Smith and Ahlo before Harman connected for a two-run homer in the fifth for her first career two-homer game. Although CSUB would push across two runs in the bottom of the fifth, the Lions would close out the run-rule win.

Sophomore Dana Waldusky gained the complete-game win to push her record to 8-7 on the year. Waldusky allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits.

LMU's offense knocked out 12 hits, paced by two-hit outings from Ahlo, Sarginson, Harman, Dutton, and Nelson, who also walked once and scored three times. Smith finished 1-for-1 with a pair of walks to increase her PCSC-leading hit total to 70.

The PCSC Coastal Division title will come down to the final weekend of the season as second-place LMU hosts first-place San Diego next weekend. The Toreros lead the Lions by two games entering the four-game series, which will start with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday and conclude with a 1 p.m. double-dip on Sunday.