THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — Rebecca Ireland and Mackenzie Dutton each drove in five runs and the University of La Verne softball team tallied 19 hits in a 21-2 win in five innings over Cal Lutheran at Hutton Field on Saturday afternoon.
Ireland and Dutton each had three hits.
Alexis Schiff was 3-for-4 with four RBI and three runs, Victoria Baltazar also went 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs and BreeAnna De La Rosa joined the party with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate.
Katherine Kibbe picked up the win in the circle, going all five innings while giving up two runs.
La Verne got on the board early. Danielle Vela led off the game with a walk, Ireland got on with a bunt single and Kibbe loaded the bases with a line drive to center. Schiff followed with a single up the middle to drive in two and Dutton knocked in another with a sacrifice fly to left to give the Leopards a 3-0 lead.
Ireland squeezed in Vela in the second inning and the Leopards tacked on four more in the third to get out to a seven-run lead.
The floodgates really opened in the fourth, which was capped by a three-run home run by Dutton. Dutton got the rally going with an RBI double, De La Rosa doubled in two and Vela singled to bring in De La Rosa. Schiff and Baltazar followed with two straight singles to bring in yet two more and Dutton launched her bomb over the left field fence give the Leopards an 18-2 lead.
The Leopards kept their foot on the pedal in the fifth and added three more runs.
Cal Lutheran got on the board in the second with a bases-loaded walk and tacked on another in the third but could not get any momentum going.
Game 2: La Verne 11, Cal Lutheran 1 (6 innings)
Danielle Vela went perfect 4-for-4 and the Leopards' offense stayed hot as La Verne completed the doubleheader sweep of Cal Lutheran.
Baltazar was 3-for-4 with two RBI and three runs. Dutton was 2-for-3 with two RBI.
The Regals grabbed an early lead Shonna Christianson's RBI single in the bottom of the first.
But the Leopards immediately got the run back in the next half inning when Cal Lutheran left fielder Olivia Leyva misplayed BreeAnna De La Rosa's single and allowed Baltazar to cross the plate.
La Verne took the lead for good in the third with an RBI groundout by Schiff and Dutton crushed a double of the center fielder's head to score two more.
The Regals held the Leopards the next two innings, but La Verne's offense exploded for six runs on nine consecutive hits in the sixth inning.
Rachel Hong (2-0) gave up nine hits and four walks, but limited the Regals to just one run in a complete game effort.
La Verne returns to action next Thursday, Feb. 19 for a pair of nonconference games against Linfield at Campus West.
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