LA VERNE, Calif. — Alexis Schiff left yard again, Hayley Jaquess pitched a shutout and the University of La Verne softball team beat Chapman 2-0 in the first game of a doubleheader at Campus West on Saturday.
Chapman came back to win the nightcap 3-2. La Verne moves to 11-11 overall and 6-6 in SCIAC play. Chapman is 7-8 and 5-6.
Schiff muscled an inside pitch over the left field fence with two outs in the first inning for what turned out to be the game winner. It was her third homer in two games.
"I don't think she goes up every time and thinks 'home run' but if you come to practice, all she does is hit home runs," La Verne head coach Julie Smith said. "What she's doing is seeing pitches all the way to contact. When she keeps her hands patient, you'll see the long balls."
Jaquess scattered six hits over six innings while striking out two and walking one. She gave up leadoff singles in each of the first three innings, but didn't lose focus and attacked the strike zone to induce contact and wiggle out of jams.
"We've been working on going right at batters," Smith said. "The game plan was to attack, attack and attack early and I think Hayley did a great job at that in the last four innings."
The Panthers had a golden opportunity of break through in the third inning when they loaded the bases with just one out. But Jaquess got Amber Perez to hit a weak grounder to third and Mackenzie Dutton went to the plate, Angelica DeAngelo turned around and fired a bullet to first for a 5-2-3 double play.
La Verne added a run in the second inning with an RBI double to deep left center by Raeleen Tellez.
Chapman came back to win the nightcap 3-2. La Verne moves to 11-11 overall and 6-6 in SCIAC play. Chapman is 7-8 and 5-6.
Game 2: Chapman 3, La Verne 2
Chapman pushed across three runs and that was all it needed to rescue a split.
With runners at the corners, Taylor Cartwright came through with a single, Gabrielle Leveratto hit a bases-loaded single and Kristen Yee scored on a botched grounder at third to give Chapman a 3-1 lead.
The Leopards got one back in the bottom of the seventh with an RBI single by Rebecca Ireland and got the woman it wanted to the plate with two outs.
Schiff stepped in with two runners on, got the pitch she wanted on the first pitch and sent it to deep center. But the ball didn't carry and Chapman center fielder Leveratto snagged it at the wall to end the game.
Ireland and Dutton each picked up two hits for La Verne.
Leveratto and Amy Serven had two hits each for Chapman.
Natalie Both picked up a complete game win, giving up one earned run while striking out six.
La Verne returns to action next Saturday, March 21 at home against Redlands. First game starts at noon.
