ORANGE, Calif. – Both teams started a game with an early offensive outburst as the Chapman University softball team and Hamline split a doubleheader on Thursday. Chapman took the first game 8-4 and nearly completed a huge comeback before falling 9-8 in the nightcap.

Game 1 – W, 8-4

Senior Lisa Perez sparked the Panthers' early rally with a solo homer to right field to lead off the second inning. Her opposite field shot was her second homer of the season and gave the Panthers the early 1-0 lead.

Three of the next four batters walked to load the bases with one out. Senior Larissa Rinauro slapped a single into left field to score a run before grounders from freshmen Elizabeth Runge and Sydney Engelhardt scored two more for a 4-0 Panther lead.

The Pipers took advantage of an inning-extending error in the fourth as Chelsea Koehn came up with the bases loaded and delivered a bases-clearing double to make it 4-3. The Panthers immediately responded in the bottom half of the inning. They put two more on the board, scoring on an error and an Engelhardt single.

After Hamline scored a run in the fifth, Chapman plated a couple of insurance runs with the help of a couple more errors in the fifth and sixth. Hamline had five errors in the game.

Perez was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI to lead the Panthers. Freshman Samantha Whalen struck out nine in the complete game win.

Game 2 – L, 9-8

Hamline sent 11 women to the plate in the first inning and plated five runs for an early 5-0 lead as the Pipers looked to avoid the sweep. Five straight two-out singles cashed in all their runs before the rally finally came to a close.

The Panthers looked for an answer in the circle, sending out five different pitchers. Freshman Analisa Ruff tossed the final three innings and limited the Pipers to a run on two hits.

Before the Panthers went to Ruff, Hamline put up another run in the second before scoring one in the fourth and another in the fifth for an 8-0 lead. On the cusp of a run-rule loss, senior Gabrielle Leveratto delivered a one-out, RBI-single to avoid the shortened loss and Perez followed with a run-scoring grounder as she beat out the attempt at a double play.

Hamline got one back in the sixth but the Panthers answered again with two more in the bottom half, taking advantage of a couple of Piper errors. Ruff shut down the Pipers in the seventh to set up the Panthers' dramatic rally.

The Panthers went through the order in the seventh. Perez led off with a single and Kristen Weiser followed with a triple to score Perez. Weiser scored on Amy Serven's bunt single to make it 9-6. Sophomore Lindsay Rawls kept the hit parade going as she dropped a single into shallow right. Her hit rolled under the glove of the right fielder and rolled all the way to wall, allowing Rawls to come all the way home and make it a 9-8 game.

After a couple groundouts, Runge kept the Panthers alive with a walk and Engelhardt followed with a single to put the winning run on base. However, Hamline pitcher Casey Anderson produced the game-ending pop up to secure the victory.

The Panthers are back at home this Saturday for a 3 p.m. doubleheader with DePauw.

by Steven Olveda
Sports Information Director

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