ORANGE, Calif. - Brooke Goodman doubled and Lexie Stinson had an RBI single in the sixth inning as the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team tried to mount a late comeback, but Rose Malen was able to shut the door in the circle for Chapman, which came away with a 3-1 win in the first of a three-game series on Friday. 

The loss drops CMS to 19-13 overall and 10-9 in the SCIAC, leaving it still in position to qualify for the postseason heading into the final day tomorrow. Chapman improves to 26-7 overall and 14-5 in the league win. 

Pomona-Pitzer moved ahead of CMS with a walk-off win over Occidental at 11-8 in league play, good for third, while first-place Redlands defeated Cal Lutheran, which remains tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with CMS. The Athenas would have the tiebreaker if the two teams finish tied for fourth, due to winning the season series 2-1. 

Malen had a perfect game going through five innings, before Goodman doubled down the left field line to lead off the sixth. One out later, Stinson drove her home to cut the deficit to 3-1, and Kaili Aqui followed with a bunt single to put two runners on with one out. Malen, though, was able to get out of the jam and keep the Panthers in front heading into the seventh. 

Rachel Sapirstein led off the seventh with a single to give the Athenas some life, but that was as much as the Athenas could muster, as Malen got the final three outs to get the win and improve to 12-4. 

The two teams will complete the three-game series tomorrow at home with a doubleheader, which will also serve as the program's Senior Day, honoring Aqui, Sophia Nguyen, Madison Gonzalez, Maya Weigel-Murphy and Emma Suh. CMS controls its own destiny for a postseason bid, guaranteeing itself a SCIAC berth with two wins, but merely needing to stay even with Cal Lutheran, which finishes its series with first-place Redlands, in order to get the fourth and final spot.