ORANGE, Calif. – Two dominant pitching performances. Two shutouts. Two wins for the Chapman University softball team to open the 2026 season. Rose Malen and Anabel Hinojosa tossed back-to-back shutouts in the sweep of Cal Lutheran to start the 2026 season.
Game 1 – W, 8-0
Malen dominated game one, allowing just one single while striking out seven in the six inning victory. The one single came in the fifth inning after the Panthers had taken a 4-0 lead in the first. Malen also issued just one free pass, hitting the first batter of the game with a 3-2 pitch.
After that, Malen settled in and retired the next 12 in a row before the single broke up her no-hit bid.
Through the first three innings, the Chapman offense also struggled to find its rhythm. Chapman burst out in the fourth, pushing four runs across with the help of a couple Cal Lutheran errors. Kloe Lobato opened the scoring when she laced a two-RBI single into right center. Lobato scored on an error and Katie Miyasato knocked in another run to make it a four-run inning.
While Malen continued to dominate in the top half of the inning, Chapman continued to support in the bottom half. Three runs came across in the fifth and Aleena Helms ended the game with a single in the sixth to make it 8-0.
Game 2 – W, 5-0
The pitching dominance continued with freshman Anabel Hinojosa striking out 12 in her Chapman debut. She surrendered just four singles over the complete game victory and did not issue a free pass.
The Chapman offense stayed hot to start the game, putting up five runs while sending 10 batters to the plate in the first inning to take a 5-0 lead. Just nine pitches into the game, Noelle Pack struck a two-run single into right field. Freshman Bella Brischle followed with a two-run double and Milla Fukuda blooped a run-scoring double on the left field line for a 5-0 lead.
The pitchers dominated the rest of the way as neither offense lit up the scoreboard through the final six and a half innings.
The doubleheader sweep clinched the SCIAC series for Chapman to start the season over Cal Lutheran. The series finishes up on Sunday at Cal Lutehran.
