ORANGE, Calif. – The offense exploded in the fifth to back another Rose Malen shutout as the Chapman University softball team defeated Pomona-Pitzer 5-0 to move into the winner's bracket of the SCIAC Tournament. The Panthers will face off against CMS tomorrow.

Miranda Murphy broke open a scoreless game with a two-RBI triple in the fifth and the Panthers continued on a two-out rally to plate all five runs to back a dominant outing from Malen. The inning opened with singles from Mia Reyes and Charisma Ortel and they both scored on Murphy's triple for a 2-0 lead.

The Sagehens threw out Murphy at the plate going for the inside-the-park homer but Grae Fosselman and Ilianna Serna immediately followed with another pair of singles. Fosselman scored on a single from Jojo Westerfiled and two more runs came home on a passed ball and ensuing error.

Malen shutout the Sagehens with seven strikeouts and just one walk. She allowed five scattered singles although the Sagehens did load the bases with two outs in the fourth. Malen responded with an inning-ending strikeout to keep the game scoreless.

The Panthers and Athenas will play in the winner's backet game at 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. The winner immediately heads into the championship game while the loser will play an elimination game at 4 p.m.

The Athenas advanced with a five-run rally in the seventh to defeat top-seeded Redlands 7-6.