CMS Softball Sweeps High-Scoring Twinbill from Redlands 9-6, 10-7

REDLANDS, Calif. – The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team broke a 6-6 tie with three runs in the seventh for a 9-6 win in the opener, capped by a pinch-hit two-run homer from Maren Summers, and built an 8-0 lead in the nightcap before holding on for a 10-7 win as it swept two games from Redlands on Saturday afternoon to take the series from the Bulldogs.

Jade Johnson finished out both games in relief without allowing a run, ending the game with the bases loaded both times. With the sweep CMS improves to 9-12 overall and 4-2 in SCIAC, bouncing back after dropping yesterday's series opener at home 8-3. Redlands falls to 5-4 in league play with the two defeats.

In the opener, Abby Thompson started the seventh inning rally when she led off with a double. One out later, Kristin LeBlanc singled to second and Thompson was able to dash home when the throw got away. Summers then pinch hit and came through with her first collegiate home run to make it 9-6.

Redlands battled back in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases and bringing the winning run to the plate, but Johnson, who came on in relief of Lauren Richards with nobody out and a runner on first, picked up the save with a game-ending strikeout.

LeBlanc was 3-for-3 in the opener, while Emma Suh was 2-for-2 with two walks and two runs scored. Thompson finished 3-for-4 with two RBI, as well as the winning run in the seventh.

In the nightcap, CMS took an 8-0 lead with three runs in the first and five in the second. Richards got things started with a two-run homer in the first inning, and CMS strung together five straight hits after a leadoff error to score five times in the second. Paige Zimmerman drove in the first two runs with a bases-loaded single, Thompson singled to right, and Emily Nutting hit a two-run double. Ari Livi capped off the rally with a sacrifice fly.

Redlands came back with six runs in the bottom half, though, keyed by a grand slam from Collette Allen. The Bulldogs got as close as 8-7 with a leadoff homer in the third, before Johnson came out of the bullpen to dominate Redlands to finish it out. She allowed no hits in her first 4.1 innings, allowing only a hit by pitch in the third, and retiring the side in order in the fourth, fifth and sixth.

The Bulldogs finally got a pair of one-out singles off her in the seventh, and loaded the bases with one out on a fielder's choice, but she got a key strikeout for the second out, and then ended the game on a groundout to second, leaving Allen in the on-deck circle and leaving the bases loaded with a three-run lead for the second game in a row.

Five Athenas had multi-hit games in the nightcap, led by a 3-for-5 effort from Richards with three runs scored and two RBI. Thompson was 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Nutting was 2-for-3 with one RBI. Suh and Zimmerman each finished 2-for-5 with Zimmerman tallying two RBI.

In the series opener on Friday at CMS, the Athenas took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single before Redlands scored four times in the second and four times in the third. Richards had an RBI double in the fifth, but CMS could come no closer than 8-3. Johnson was stellar out of the bullpen in that game as well, throwing five innings and allowing no runs on only three hits, as she finished her weekend with 11 innings of work out of the bullpen with only five hits and no runs allowed.

CMS will be back in action next weekend for five games, playing a non-conference home doubleheader against Willamette on Friday, before facing Occidental in a three-game series, with a road doubleheader on Saturday and a home game on Sunday.