April 25, 2004

Los Angeles, Calif. - In this weekend's match-up between the Pacific Coast Softball Conference's best offensive team and best pitching staff, the bats won. Loyola Marymount softball took both ends of the Sunday doubleheader, 5-1 and 6-4, to complete the four-game sweep of Sacramento State.

The Lions (28-12) improve to 11-5 in conference play, moving them from third place to second in the PCSC standings, as Sacramento State (32-24) falls to 10-6 and into third. Santa Clara, who took four games from San Diego, jumps to the top spot in the conference with a 12-4 mark in PCSC play.

The Lions, who served as the visiting team in both games per PCSC rules, took a 5-0 lead after three innings in game one. Freshman Kirsten Whitt hit a double to center field in the second and later scored on Lisa Abbott's single to left. LMU added four runs in the second, starting with a solo shot over the left center field wall by Sami Strinz. Danielle Kaminaka followed with a double and later scored on Caylin Hornish's double to left. Emily Foltz then belted a two-RBI homerun over the left field wall for the Lions' final run of game one.

Sacramento State pushed across one run in the seventh when back-to-back singles by Erin Coyne and Lesley Mayhorn scored Lindy Winkler, who had reached first after being hit by a pitch. But the lone run was all the Hornets could get in the bottom of the seventh, as Krystal Kehr (6-2) got the complete game win for the Lions. Nicole Deatherage allowed 11 hits in the loss and fell to 13-10 on the season.

Game two saw a much different start, as Lesley Mayhorn hit a three-run homerun over the leftfield fence in the first for the early 3-0 Sacramento State lead. Sac State starter Brianne Ferguson allowed just two Lions hits through the first four innings, as LMU struggled to put runners on base. Foltz started the push for LMU with a single in the fifth inning. Abbott then scored Foltz for LMU's first run of game two on a double down the left field line.

LMU scored two more runs in the sixth inning, when Foltz's single scored Kaminaka and Gomes to tie the game at 3-3.

The Hornets went ahead 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth when Amber Moreland singled to right field and later scored on Jenni Friedrichs' single through the right side. But LMU got what proved to be the game-winning hit from Hornish in the top of the seventh, as her two-strike double to right center score three RBI for the 6-4 lead. Kehr held the Hornets in the bottom of the seventh, allowing just one baserunner, to preserve the 6-4 win and sweep of Sac State. The sophomore earned her second win of the game to improve her record to 7-2.

Ferguson (16-11) took the tough-luck loss for the Hornets after holding the Lions scoreless until the fifth inning.

The Hornets had entered into the weekend series leading the conference at 10-2, but fall to third in the standings after the sweep.

LMU will play its final home doubleheader of the season this Wednesday when the Lions host non-conference opponent UC Riverside at 2:00 p.m.

-GO LIONS-