FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PANTHERS SCORE IN BUNCHES, TAKE TWO FROM POMONA IN HOME DEBUT

ORANGE, Calif. –  Four games into the season, the Chapman University softball team is making a trend out of scoring runs by the bunches. On Thursday night, the Panthers made it a clean sweep against visiting Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, winning a pair of games 11-5 and 13-2 at Hart Park with one big inning after another.

Game 1: Chapman 11, Pomona-Pitzer 5
For the second time in as many games, Chapman (4-0) yielded a large lead – this time a four-run lead – as the Sagehens rallied to take a 5-4 advantage in the fifth. But the Panthers responded three runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to an RBI single from freshman IF Dani Brown and a two-out, two-run single by freshman IF Mandi Rodriguez to recapture the lead for good.

Chapman exploded for four more runs in the sixth inning, capped by a two-run homer from Brown – her first career home run – to seal the victory. Junior IF Catherine Hall and sophomore OF Erin Dudzinski each had three hits to lead the Panthers’ 16-hit attack. Freshman P Vanessa Goncalves had two hits and earned her second win of the year with two innings of shutout relief.

Game 2: Chapman 13, Pomona-Pitzer 2
Hall hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the fifth (run-rule) to cap a six-run rally for Chapman. The homer was the junior’s third this season and second grand slam of the year. Hall also had RBI singles in the first and fourth innings to give her six RBI in the game. In the doubleheader she was 6-for-7 with seven RBI.

Freshman IF Melanie Villarroel homered in the fourth inning – a two-run shot – for her first career home run. It was also the tide-turning moment in the game as Chapman regained the lead after Pomona-Pitzer (3-3) took a 2-1 lead in the third. The Panthers would score four more times in the inning.

Senior RHP Maggie Wilder struck out eight Sagehens and allowed just two hits in five innings of work to improve to 2-0 this season.

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Game stats available online:
/athletics/06-07/softball/pp-cu1.htm
/athletics/06-07/softball/pp-cu2.htm