CLAREMONT, Calif. –
Taviah Jenkins was 3-for-3 with two runs scored and Hilary Broadus
went 2-for-2 with three RBIs as the George Fox University Bruins
earned a split of their season-opening softball doubleheader
against the Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Sagehens with a 6-5 second-game
win here Friday afternoon.
In the opener, the Bruins were held to only three hits by Pomona
hurler Carolyn Cross (1-1) and suffered a 9-1 setback. Cross
struck out seven with one walk and benefitted from 14 hits by her
Sagehen teammates.
Pomona got a run in the first inning of the first game as Alexis
Garcia singled, moved up on an error and a ground out, and scored
on a Brianna Marcantoni singled. George Fox tied it in the
third on a Kerrianne Davidson single, a sacrifice
and a ground out, and an RBI single by Jenkins.
The Sagehens took a 2-1 lead in the home half on a Marcantoni
home run, then exploded for seven runs in the bottom of the fifth
to end the game by the eight-run 'mercy' rule.
Alyssa Corley slugged three-run homer to get the frame going, and
Cross, Jamie Goldberg, Garcia, and Arianna Roach added run-scoring
singles.
Freshman Allyssa DenDekker (0-1) went the distance for the
Bruins and took the loss.
In the second game, the Bruins fell behind 4-0 after two innings
before rallying for the win. Marcantoni hit a two-run double
in the first and Garcia and Roach had RBI singles in the second for
the Sagehens.
George Fox exploded for five runs in the fourth to take the
lead. Kayla Ward and Kahlee Barrio singled with one out and
scored on a double by Nicole Renteria. Jenkins singled in
Renteria, Bethany Chriss walked, and after both advanced on a wild
pitch, Broadus delivered the tying and go-ahead runs with a
single.
The Bruins added a critical insurance run in the sixth as
Davidson doubled and Broadus singled her home, offsetting a Pomona
run in the seventh when Corley hit lead-off home run. Bruin
hurler Erin Hento (1-0) then secured the win with three consecutive
ground outs.
Ward also had two hits for the Bruins, who collected 10 in
all. The Sagehens had 11 hits, with Garcia and Roach knocking
out two apiece.
Hento fanned two and walked one in her first college start to
get the win. Nickelle Raschick (0-1) took the loss in
relief.
NEXT: George Fox (1-1) visits Whittier College
for a twinbill Saturday at 12:00 noon ... Pomona-Pitzer (2-2) hosts
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges in a Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday at
noon.
