LOS ANGELES – Santa Clara softball earned a split against league leading LMU taking the first game of the twin bill, 5-2, before falling 10-2 in the second game, setting up Saturday's rubber game.
GAME 1: Santa Clara 5 - LMU 2
Santa Clara was in command throughout the game behind stellar pitching by Hannah Edwards and timely hitting to take down LMU, 5-2, to lock up third place in the West Coast Conference standings.
The loss was just the second in league play for LMU (34-15, 11-2 WCC), who entered the day a game ahead of second-place BYU in the WCC standings.
The Bronco bats collected 11 hits with four of those going for extra bases. Ashley Trierweiler had a game-high three hits, Sammy Needham drove in a pair of runs and Morgan Salmon had a home run, double and scored twice.
Santa Clara scored the first four runs with Trierweiler serving as the table setter for the first two.
In the opening inning, Trierweiler led the game off with an infield single, to extend her hit streak to 21 games, before coming home on Needham's double to open the Bronco scoring.
In the third, Trierweiler once again reached on an infield single, moved to third on Lauren LaHood's double and plated on Needham's squeeze bunt. Regan Dias followed with a single to score LaHood.
Salmon's solo home run in the fourth gave the Broncos a 4-0 advantage.
Meanwhile, Edwards allowed just one base runner, a hit batsman, through the first three frames. She ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fourth, giving up a run on three hits. However, with the bases loaded and one out, she induced Val Pero to a 6-2-3 double play to escape out of the jam.
Andrea Gonzalez trimmed the lead with a solo shot in the fifth to make it 4-2 but the Broncos added an insurance run in the top of the sixth on Lauren Bryson's pinch-hit RBI single.
The Lions threatened in the bottom of the seventh putting two runners on and brought the tying run up to the plate. However, Edwards got Megan Dedrick to ground out for the final out of the game.
Edwards (8-8) finished with a six-hit complete game. The redshirt freshman gave up two runs, walked two and struck out one.
LMU starter Savannah Hooks (5-5) suffered the loss going 2 1/3 innings and was responsible for the first three runs of the game.
GAME 2: LMU 10 - Santa Clara 2 (five innings)
A big third inning lifted LMU to a 10-2 five inning run-rule victory over Santa Clara in the second game of the doubleheader.
Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning, the Lions sent 10 batters to the plate and banged out six hits to score six runs to take a 7-2 lead. Sydney Poole, Morgan DeBord and Alyssa Daniell each had an RBI single and Jasmine Sofowora doubled home two runs in the frame, touching up Broncos starter Sage Hager and reliever Lauren Anderson.
Daniell went 3-for-3 with three runs and two RBIs. Poole, Sofowora and Val Pero each had two hits with Sofowora driving in four runs. In total, the Lions had 13 hits.
Hager (8-6) lasted just 2 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits and five runs.
Just as they did in the first game, Santa Clara (21-29, 7-7 WCC) got on the board first. Facing Jenna Perez, the six-time WCC Pitcher of the Week in 2022, the Broncos loaded the bases on an error and singles by Morgan Salmon and Regan Dias. Sarah Ellersick drew a walk to push across the first run of the game.
LMU (35-15, 12-2 WCC) answered in the bottom of the second on Daniell's solo home run to knot the game up at 1-all.
Ellersick came through with a sacrifice fly RBI in the third to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead before the Lions broke the game open in the home half of the third.
The Lions took the 7-2 lead in the fifth and put up three more runs to end the game on a run rule that included a two-run homer by Sofowora.
Perez (16-6) picked up the win scattering three hits and two runs, one earned, while fanning six over five innings.
Salmon had two of the three hits for the Broncos with Needham hitting up the other. Trierweiler went hitless, snapping her 21-game hitting streak.
A win on Saturday by LMU will clinch the WCC title for the Lions.
NEXT UP
The Broncos play the Lions play the rubber game on Saturday at noon in the final game of the 2022 season.
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