BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - Ill winds blew in Bakersfield Sunday for the CSUB softball team, helping Loyola Marymount complete a series sweep by taking the final doubleheader of the season between the teams, 5-4 and 6-1, at the Roadrunner Softball Complex. Gusts topping 40 miles per hour delayed the action throughout the afternoon and played a pivotal role in deciding the outcome of the first game.

With CSUB leading 4-1 and two outs in the seventh, Katie Chavez (Fresno/Edison HS) coaxed what, on any normal day, would have been a lazy, game-ending fly ball to medium centerfield from LMU second baseman Amy Charpentier. But a strong wind blowing in from center turned the 180-foot final out into a 90-foot, two-run bloop single that eluded the desperate dive of speedy centerfielder Jill McClelland (Paso Robles/Templeton HS).

Chavez never recovered as the Lions followed with three sharply hit singles to complete the comeback. It was the fourth consecutive game in which LMU came from behind in the seventh inning to beat CSUB by a single run.

Prior to that, Sunday looked like a day in which CSUB was going to turn its luck around. After hitting the ball hard to little avail Saturday afternoon, the Roadrunner bats were a bit more surgical in Sunday's first game. Finding holes that were nonexistent in the first two games of the series, the CSUB offense turned nine singles into four runs, led by two-hit performances from Heather Veitch (Simi Valley/Royal HS), Ryane Petersen (Fresno/Fresno State) and Kristen Archuleta (Hollister/San Benito HS).

Luck further appeared on CSUB's side in the seventh inning. LMU put runners on second and third with one out when Lion centerfielder Danielle Smith hit a hard liner that hopped in front of CSUB rightfielder Chelsey Bell (Ridgecrest/Burroughs HS). Running at third base, Priscilla Satete inexplicably went back to tag up instead of going half way. She still tried to score, but Bell made a perfect throw, and catcher Jaimey Kleinsmith (Santa Maria/College of the Sequoias) expertly blocked the plate to deny the run.

Smith took second on the throw, however, setting up Charpentier's popout-cum-single that opened the floodgates for the Lion rally.

On the surface, things started much better for CSUB in game two. Two singles and an error helped the 'Runners take a 1-0 lead in the first inning. But they left the base loaded, and that proved to be a portent for the rest of the afternoon. CSUB went on to leave at least one runner on base every inning, totaling a season-high 13 left on base in the game.

CSUB starter Sammy Rodriguez (Salinas HS) set LMU down quietly in the first two innings before Charpentier's two-run double highlighted a four-run Lion third. With LMU starter Molly Medeiros dancing around trouble the whole game, those four runs proved more than enough to complete the sweep.

CSUB (12-26, 0-4 PCSC) hits the road for a four-game set at Santa Clara beginning next Saturday. LMU improved to 17-15 and 4-0 with Sunday's wins.