FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGH DRAMA AS PANTHERS SPLIT WITH WHITTIER IN SEASON OPENERS

ORANGE, Calif. –  The Chapman University softball team opened the 2008 season with a doubleheader split against visiting Whittier College on Saturday afternoon at Hart Park. There was plenty of drama in this season “premiere” with the Panthers taking Game 1 on a two-out single in the bottom of the eighth inning. Then in Game 2 – a back-and-forth affair – the Poets returned the favor with a game-winning home run in the seventh.

Game 1: Chapman 1, Whittier 0 (8 inn.)
Senior DP Amanda Campbell singled home senior IF Catherine Hall with the game’s only run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Panthers a walk-off victory. Until that point, Chapman had stranded 10 runners on 10 hits, getting two hits apiece from Campbell and sophomores Melanie Villarroel, Dani Brown and Vanessa Goncalves.

The Panthers looked like they might win the game in the bottom of the seventh with runners on second and third and no outs. One out later, Hall hit into a bizarre 6-2-4-2 double play – executed to perfection by the Poet defense – resulting in a pair of Panthers being thrown out at the plate.

Senior RHP Jennifer Winford appeared to be in midseason form in the circle. The veteran threw eight shutout innings, allowing just four hits and striking out seven for her first win of the season.

Game 2: Whittier 7, Chapman 6
Chapman (1-1) took a 3-0 lead in the first inning, thanks to a two-run home run by Winford. Whittier (1-1) stormed back with a run in the second and three in the third to take a 4-3 advantage. Then in the bottom of the third, Winford struck again with another two-run homer and the Panthers regained the lead 5-4.

The score was tied 6-6, when Poets’ OF Amanda Carrasco hit a solo home run to lead off the seventh inning plating the game-winning run. The Whittier victory was the first in the career of Poets’ head coach Jennifer Bridges.

Winford and sophomore IF SheaLynn Slover were each 3-for-4 for Chapman in the loss.

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Game stats available online:
/athletics/07-08/softball/wc-cu1.htm
/athletics/07-08/softball/wc-cu2.htm