Sweet 16! CMS Softball Moves to 16-0 in SCIAC with Doubleheader Sweep of Chapman

ORANGE, Calif. - The No. 13 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team overcame an early 5-1 deficit to win the opener 12-7 and scored four times in the seventh to break a 3-3 tie in the nightcap as it took a doubleheader sweep at Chapman to improve to 16-0 in SCIAC play.

CMS now stands at 22-5 overall on the year and maintains a four-game lead in the SCIAC standings over second-place Pomona-Pitzer (12-4). Chapman falls back to .500 in league play at 7-7 with the two losses. 

Sophomore designated player Megan Perron had the momentum-changing hit in the opening game, clearing the bases with a two-out, three-run double to tie the score 5-5 in the fourth. Senior pitcher Chloe Amarilla singled to cut the lead to 5-2, and after sophomore left fielder Molly Spaniac walked to load the bases, Perron found the right-center field gap to tie the score up. Sophomore catcher Maddie Valdez then followed with a single to left to plate Perron and give CMS a 6-5 lead. 

The 6-5 lead held until CMS opened the game up with three runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Spaniac started the sixth with a hit by pitch, before singles from Perron and freshman Ananya Koneti loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought home one run, before freshman pitcher Lexi Singh drew a bases-loaded walk to stretch the lead to 8-5 and an error pushed it to 9-5. 

Perron added her second RBI double of the game in the top of the seventh to make it a 10-5 lead, and sophomore center fielder Kawai Scanlan had a two-run triple to give CMS 12 runs. Chapman scored twice with two outs in the seventh to come a little closer, but the Athenas were able to come away with the 12-7 win. 

Perron finished the opening game 3-for-5 with four RBI, while Singh was 2-for-2 with the RBI walk in the sixth, while earning the win in the pitching circle with 4.1 innings of reilef. 

The nightcap saw Chapman answer CMS twice in the early innings, as each team scored one run in the second and two in the third to make it a 3-3 game heading into the seventh. Freshman pitcher Lauren Richards had a sacrifice fly to score Koneti in the second, while Spaniac had an RBI single in the third. 

CMS then caught a break in the seventh as a potential inning-ending strikeout turned into a go-ahead run when the Chapman catcher committed an error, allowing senior right fielder Rachel Perley to score from third. Perron then picked up her fifth RBI of the day on an infield single, and Koneti capped off the inning with an RBI single to make it 7-3. 

The insurance runs proved to be important as Chapman cut the lead to 7-4 and had the bases loaded in the bottom half, but Richards was able to make a leaping snag of a chopper for the final out to finish off her win in the circle, improving her record to 13-2 on the year. Perley (2-for-3, two runs scored) and Koneti (2-for-4, run, RBI) each had multi-hit games for CMS in the nigthcap. 

CMS will be back in action next Saturday when it hosts Cal Lutheran for a 12 p.m. doubleheader, looking to continue building on its undefeated conference record.