FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PANTHERS IMPROVE TO 5-0 AGAINST RANKED OPPONENTS

ORANGE, Calif. –  Junior IF Catherine Hall’s one-out base hit in the bottom of the seventh plated the game-winning run to give the Chapman University softball team a 4-3 win over No. 20 Cortland State (N.Y.) at the Sun West Tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Hart Park. Following wins against No. 1 Ithaca (N.Y.) and No. 9 Louisiana College last weekend, the Panthers improved to 5-0 against nationally-ranked opponents in 2007.

No. 8 Chapman (16-6) added a 10-1 victory over Macalester College (Minn.) in the second game of the day, thanks to 14 hits from the Panther offense led by a 4-for-4 performance by sophomore OF Erin Dudzinski.

Game 1: Chapman 4, Cortland State 3
The Panthers saw a 3-0 sixth inning lead quickly evaporate when the Red Dragons rallied for two in the top of the inning and then tied the game with a run in the seventh. Cortland State would have also scored the go-ahead run, but freshman OF Vanessa Goncalves nailed the runner at the plate for the third out of the inning. Dudzinski, who was 8-for-8 on Tuesday with three doubles and four runs, led off the bottom of the seventh with her fourth hit of the game. Two batters later she scored on Hall’s base hit through the left side of a drawn-in infield.

Junior RHP Jennifer Winford improved to 3-2 this season with a complete game and five strikeouts. She also helped her own cause offensively, going 2-for-2 with a solo home run in the fourth. It was her second round-tripper of the season.

Game 2: Chapman 10, Macalester 1
Chapman jumped on the Scots for three in the first inning, one in the third and a six-spot in the fourth to earn the ‘run-rule’ victory. The Panthers’ big hit in the fourth inning came from freshman IF Melanie Villarroel who had a two-run triple. Besides Dudzinski’s earlier noted heroics, Villarroel and freshman IF Dani Brown each had a pair of hits and combined for four RBI. Senior OF Sandra Burns was also 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Freshman RHP Ally Waffle earned her first career victory with a three-hitter. She allowed just one unearned run in five innings.

###

Game stats available online:
http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/06-07/softball/cor-cu.htm
http://www1.chapman.edu/athletics/06-07/softball/mac-cu.htm