May 5, 2007
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara softball team dropped the first game of a doubleheader 8-1 to the league champion Loyola Marymount Lions on Saturday at Marsalli Park. In a Pacific Coast Softball Conference match-up, the Lions used a balanced attack to put up eight runs against the Broncos, while Lions pitcher Melissa Dykema kept the Bronco bats quiet most of the afternoon. SCU managed just two hits in the game.
After breezing through the first inning, Bronco starter Jackie Morales ran into trouble in the second inning. LMU loaded the bases with one out on two singles and a walk. Megan Ackerman then scored when Emily Batt's attempted pick-off hit Ackerman in the back and rolled into left field. Kirsten Slouber than ripped a single off Ashley Blier's glove at third base to drive home a second run.
The Lions scored one more run in the third on three more hits and then stretched the lead to 5-0 with a pair of runs in the fourth. A double by Christine Foley, one of her four hits in the game, drove home both runs in the fourth.
After being shut down in order in the first three frames, the Broncos put together a rally in the bottom of the fourth. Nori Kamada led off the inning with a single and moved to second on a single by Megan Chavez. Chavez was erased on Angela Kabanuck's ground ball to the shortstop. The Broncos got the run home on a double steal as Kabanuck stole second and Kamada scampered home on the throw to second to get SCU on the board.
The Broncos found it tough going after that as Dykema struck out seven Broncos over the final four innings and finished with 12 for the game. She struck out the side in the ninth to end the game with two Broncos on base.
The Lions picked up their final three runs in the top of the seventh on a two-run home run and a single by Slouber that drove home Tiffany Gonzales from second.
Santa Clara fell to 12-44 (5-12 PCSC) with the loss.
