CLAREMONT, Calif. -
Giselle Lai hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, but the La Verne softball team threw out the tying run at the plate an inning later as the Leopards took a 3-2 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the series opener for both teams.
La Verne clinched a SCIAC bid with the win, as it moves to 11-8 in league play and 17-21 overall. CMS falls to 17-17-1 overall and 8-11 in league play with the loss.
The news wasn't all bad for the Athenas, as two comebacks in other places kept CMS in the SCIAC playoff chase. Whittier led Chapman 3-0 in the sixth, but Chapman was able to win on a walk-off three-run triple in the seventh. Pomona-Pitzer had a 5-0 lead on Redlands, but the Bulldogs came back to win 7-5 in extra innings.
Either a Whittier or a Pomona-Pitzer win would have eliminated the Athenas from the postseason, but CMS can still get in with two wins over La Verne tomorrow, if first-place Redlands snd second-place Chapman both sweep as well.
CMS was down 3-0 in the bottom of the sixth, when Lai was able to pull a ball over the right field fence to get the Athenas within a single run. A diving catch by Kylee Knight in center field ended the sixth with no further damage, but the Athenas were able to get the tying run on third with one out in the seventh.
Rachel Sapirstein hit one on the ground to shortstop that looked destined to tie the game at 3-3, but Brooke Petretti fired the ball home just ahead of slide of
Lexie Stinson, keeping the game 3-2. Briana Vasquez then got the final out via strikeout to get the complete-game win.
Lai finished 2-for-4 on the day for the Athenas, while
Hannah Adams went the distance, allowing five hits and one earned run.
Delanie Stevens had a single in the seventh and threw out a runner trying to score on a fly ball to right field for a double play in the sixth, as she came up clutch on both sides of the ball in the late innings.
The two teams finish the series tomorrow at 12 noon, with the Leopards already in the postseason and the Athenas trying to get the fourth and final spot with a pair of wins.
