Softball March 31, 2009 CSU Bakersfield Athletic Communications

Softball Splits With Loyola Marymount

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. ? The slumbering bats of the CSUB offense woke up in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader with Loyola Marymount, powering the Roadrunner softball team to a split at the Roadrunner Softball Complex.

CSUB pounded out 13 hits in winning the opener, 8-4, before dropping the second game, 5-1.

Five different Roadrunners enjoyed multi-hit games in the opener, led by junior second baseman Kristen Archuleta, who went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles. But the story of the game came in the circle, where junior Katie Chavez continued her mastery of LMU.

Chavez, who threw a four-hit shutout at LMU in February, relieved starter Brittany Johnson in the second inning and followed with 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief after CSUB fell behind 3-0. She ran her scoreless innings streak against LMU to 13 innings before the Lions scored a consolation run with two outs in the seventh inning.

Archuleta's leadoff double in the third inning sparked the Roadrunner comeback. A double by Kelli Bailey and RBI singles from Jaimey Kleinsmith and Sammy Rodriguez capped the four?run outburst. Another double from Archuleta started another four-run inning in the fourth. This time, freshman Jill McClelland provided the finishing touch with a two-run homer down the leftfield line.

Freshman Sam Fischer's seventh home run of the season staked LMU to a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the nightcap. CSUB got two runners on with one out in its half of the first and loaded the bases in the fourth, but couldn't solve Lion starter Melissa Dykema until Kleinsmith's two out single in the fifth tied the game at 1-1.

The Lions broke the game open in the sixth when Megan Ackerman's two-run homer highlighted a four-run outburst. Sophomore pitcher Kristen Schlegel made her first appearance of the season for CSUB and threw 1 2/3 innings of perfect relief to quiet the Lion bats, but the Roadrunner offense couldn't respond.

CSUB will continue the preview tour of its 2010 conference when it plays at defending Pacific Coast Softball Conference champion Sacramento State in a doubleheader Wednesday. The Roadrunners return home to close the home portion of their 2009 schedule when they begin a three-game set with South Dakota Saturday afternoon.

TEAMS	123	456	7	--	R	H	E
Loyola Marymount	030	000	1	--	4	11	3
CSU Bakersfield	004	400	x	--	8	13	2

Goodman, Dykema (4), Fischer (6) and Pagnini; Johnson, Chavez (2) and Kleinsmith. WP ? Katie Chavez (4-4). LP ? Corie Goodman (7-10).
2B ? Bailey (B), Kleinsmith (B), Archuleta (B) 2, Cesena (L), Tysdal (L). Pagnini (L). HR ? McClelland (B), Sarginson (L).