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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
LA VERNE, Calif. – Chapman University softball coach Janet Lloyd will remember her 400th career head coaching victory for a long time. In fact, she'd be hard-pressed to find any of her previous 399 wins quite like this one. The Panthers committed seven errors, coughed up a 5-0 first inning lead, came roaring back from a 9-5 deficit to force extra innings, and then won it in the ninth 11-10 over one of their biggest regional rivals on the road. Chapman (2-0) opened the season with a pair of victories 8-3 and 11-10 at La Verne on Saturday afternoon to give Lloyd her next big milestone. At 400-131 in 12-plus seasons, Lloyd's .753 winning percentage ranks among the top-10 in Division III, both active and all-time. The Panthers' first win was rather uneventful in comparison to the second. Senior RHP Maggie Wilder limited the Leopards to just one earned run and struck out five for her first victory of the year. Chapman snapped a 3-3 tie with a five-run sixth inning and got two hits each from sophomore OFs Erin Dudzinski and Kathleen Ramseyer. Ramseyer drove in a pair of runs, including her first home run of the year. In a bizarre second game, Chapman opened up a 5-0 lead in the first inning thanks to a grand slam from junior IF Catherine Hall. But La Verne (0-4) rallied in the next two innings to score six runs off Panthers' starter Jennifer Winford without the benefit of a hit. Four walks and a slew of Panther errors later, La Verne led 8-5. It was 9-5 in the fifth when Chapman scored a run thanks to a La Verne miscue followed by another home run from Hall, a three-run shot. In fact, Hall tied a Chapman record with seven RBI in the game. The game remained tied at 9-9 until the ninth when freshman RHP Vanessa Goncalves led off with her first career home run. The Panthers added a much-needed insurance run and Goncalves held off a La Verne rally in the bottom of the inning to earn her first career victory. The freshman held the Leopards to two earned runs in seven innings of relief for the win.
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