SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara softball remained in first place of the West Coast Conference standings winning both doubleheader games against LMU on Saturday, 5-4 in the first game and 7-5 in the second game. The Broncos improved to a record of 9-2 in league action, staying one game ahead of second place Saint Mary's who kept pace winning both their games against San Diego to move to 8-3.
Santa Clara has now won 30 games, tying the program record for the most wins in a season, a feat that's been achieved three times previously in 2003, 2004 and 2024. This is also the second time in program history, the team has won 30 games in back-to-back seasons.
Game 1: Santa Clara 5 - LMU 4
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Santa Clara (29-18, 8-2 WCC) scored all five of their runs in the third and fourth innings and hung on for a 5-4 victory in the opening game of the series.
- Hope Alley drove in two runs with a single in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game up at 2-all, answering the two runs LMU (20-27, 5-4 WCC) scored in the top half of the inning on Jasmine Sofowora's RBI hit and a Bronco error.
- In the fourth, SCU loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single against Lions starter Lindsay O'Dell. Pinch hitter Kyla Acres hit an RBI grounder to put the Broncos ahead by a run, followed by a triple by Cairah Curran to the right center gap to score two more to make it 5-2. Curran went 2-for-4, getting her 73rd and 74th hits of the season to break Angela Kabanuck's Bronco single season hit record of 72 that she set in 2007 (the most since at least 2000).
- Hannah Edwards came in relief of Cari Ferguson to start the fifth but got in trouble loading the bases on Justine Lambert's single, Arianna Jaurequi reached on an error and walked Izzy Jamgotchian. Mika Chong got her third hit of the day, a single to right field, to trim the Bronco lead to one run at 5-4. With runners at first and second, Edwards got Sakora Harvell to line out to third baseman Hope Alley who doubled off the runner at second to kill the Lions rally.
- Edwards retired the final six batters to pick up her first save of the season and preserve Ferguson's win as she went four innings and gave up two runs, one earned to pick up her seventh win. Ferguson has given up two earned runs in the last 35 innings.
Game 2: Santa Clara 7 - LMU 5
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Santa Clara (30-18, 9-2 WCC) answered a one-run deficit three times including a big five-run fourth inning to take a commanding lead en route to a 7-5 victory in the backend of the doubleheader.
- Trailing 3-2 in the fourth, the Broncos put up five runs on just two hits and aided by three LMU errors. The hits came from Rebecca Rubio and Kyle Acres that brought home three runs. Four of the runs in the inning were unearned.
- LMU (20-28, 5-5 WCC) scored a run in the first and second innings on Jasmine Sofowora's sacrifice fly and Emma Gutierrez's RBI double but each half inning, the Broncos answered to tie the game. In the home half of the first, Taryn Clements had a sac fly of her own and in the second, Abigail Charpentier blasted a solo home run to right field for her team-leading seventh round tripper.
- The Lions retook the lead 3-2 as Mika Chong went deep in the top of the fourth. Chong finished 2-for-3 with five hits in the twin bill.
- The Broncos maintained their 7-3 lead into the seventh but LMU loaded the bases against reliever Alaina Valdez on two walks and an error. Sakora Harvell represented the tying run at the plate and she laced a single to center scoring two runs. But the first base runner Chong made a baserunning mistake rounding past second and got caught in a run down between the bases for the third and final out of the game.
- The starters for both teams were the pitchers of record with Hazyl Gray getting her 11th win while Jessica Hubbard dropped to 7-14.
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