Riverside, Calif. – La Sierra defeated the University of Puget Sound in today's non-conference doubleheader, with a 5-3 win in Game 1, followed by a convincing 12-1 win in Game 2. The two wins snapped a four-game losing streak, for the Golden Eagles. The team is now 3-5 on the season, with 14 more non-conference games remaining before their Cal Pac opener.
Game 1: La Sierra def. Puget Sound, 5-3
The Golden Eagles held off the Loggers in the first game of the doubleheader for the 5-3 victory. The Loggers actually finished with more hits (8-3) than the Golden Eagles, but it was La Sierra who took complete advantage of their hits, baserunners, and two Puget Sound errors, to outscore the Loggers in Game 1.
The Golden Eagles never trailed in the game, scoring three runs in the first two innings and never looking back. Arianna Rivas had one of the three hits, accounted for two of the team's RBI's, and scored one of the five runs. Taylor Brooks and Taylor Ross each had a hit of their own.
Mariyah Moronez picked up the win after pitching four complete innings, giving up one unearned run on four hits. Kirsten Hernandez pitched the final 2 1/3 innings, surrendering no runs and just three hits, to pick up the save.
Game 2: La Sierra def. Puget Sound, 12-1 (5 innings)
The mercy rule was invoked in Game 2, after the Golden Eagles blew the game open with a 6-run fourth inning. La Sierra scored six runs in the first three innings of play, with a run in each of the first two innings, and four runs in the third inning, before blowing the game open in the fourth. The Loggers scored their only run of the game in the final inning of play but it wasn't enough to keep the game going.
This time around it was La Sierra who outhit Puget Sound by a margin of 8-3, but the Golden Eagles still benefited from four defensive miscues committed by the Loggers. Four of La Sierra's 12 runs were unearned.
Moronez picked up another win in Game 2 after pitching all five innings and giving up just one run on three hits.
Taylor Ross finished the game going 3-for-4 with four RBI's, while Brooks and Kallie Sorenson each tallied two hits and an RBI in the lopsided victory.
The team will be back in action on Wednesday afternoon when they play host to Goshen College (Goshen, Indiana) for a non-conference doubleheader, starting at 11am. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since the 2016 season when the Golden Eagles defeated the Maple Leafs, 12-1, in a single tournament game.
