The Golden Eagles softball team swept two doubleheaders from St. Katherine College this past weekend. On Friday, La Sierra defeated the Flames 7-3 and 9-1, in Encinitas. On Monday, the two teams met in Riverside, where the Golden Eagles won 4-3 and 8-0, in five innings. The four wins push La Sierra's record to 6-7-1 on the season. The team still has six non-conference games remaining before they open conference play on March 9.
Friday, February 16
La Sierra – 7, St. Katherine – 3
After trailing 1-0 after two innings, the Golden Eagles scored all seven runs in the third inning of play. They scored the seven runs on just four hits, while taking advantage of five errors committed by the Flames defense. Hunter Alvarez led the way with two hits and one RBI. Jamie Roe added one hit and two RBI's, while Brittany Meyers accounted for the other hit while notching an RBI of her own. Kirsten Hernandez pitched 4 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and three runs, to pick up the victory.
La Sierra – 9, St. Katherine – 1 (6 innings)
The Golden Eagles bats were alive in the early going as the team jumped out to a 6-1 lead through the first two innings of play. La Sierra added three more runs in the sixth inning, putting the game away by virtue of the 'mercy rule'. The team combined for a total of 17 hits, with Roe leading the way with a 4-for-4 performance, resulting in two RBI's. Kaylee Quezada also finished with a perfect 3-for-3 game at the plate. Taylor Ross led the team with three RBI's, going 2-for-4 in Game 2. Two other players, Alvarez and Berlyn Benavides also notched two hits apiece in the win. Sarai Camacho gave up just one run on five hits.
Monday, February 19
La Sierra – 4, St. Katherine – 3
Hernandez pitched a complete game, giving up just four hits in picking up the victory. The Golden Eagles took an early 2-0 lead with two runs in the bottom of the first inning. After the Flames trimmed the lead in half with a run in the third, La Sierra pushed the lead back to two with a run of their own in the fourth inning. But the Flames answered back with two runs in the sixth, tying the score at 3-3. Taylor Ross hit a one-out double, in the bottom half of the seventh inning and subsequently scoring the winning run, when Roe singled her in to win the game in walk-off fashion. Ross and Roe each finished the game going 2-for-4, with one RBI and two RBI's, respectively.
La Sierra – 8, St. Katherine – 0 (5 innings)
It was another dominating performance by the Golden Eagles who cruised to their fourth straight victory, behind a one-hitter tossed by Sarai Camacho. Alvarez picked up two more RBI's and finished the game going 3-for-3 in Game 2. Brigitta Doherty and Roe each tallied two hits, with Roe adding another RBI to her line. Klarissa Garcia also added two RBI's with a single in a 4-run second inning for La Sierra. As a team, the Golden Eagles scored their eight runs on a total of 11 hits.
The softball team will play host to Hope International University this coming Friday. The teams will play a non-conference doubleheader, starting at 11am. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2015, when La Sierra swept the Royals in a doubleheader.
