The sweep pushes the Lancers’ school-record winning streak to 27 straight and solidifies their place atop the NAIA Coaches’ Poll. However, the No. 18-ranked Cougars didn’t go quietly into the night, and for a brief moment caused the powerful Lancers some concern.
A Cassi Sweeney sacrifice fly that scored Lori Shimasaki and Tami Carter’s second home run of the season staked Azusa Pacific to a 2-0 lead after 3 innings in the first game. It’s only the third time this season that Cal Baptist has trailed in a game, and the runs snapped All-GSAC pitcher Candice Thomas’ 39-inning scoreless streak.
However, it took just one swing to end the Azusa Pacific threat. Nikki Lowe cranked a 2-out, 3-run shot, her third home run of the season, to erase the Cougars’ advantage and put Cal Baptist up 3-2. From there the Lancers cruised, adding a single run in the fifth following Goforth’s 2-out triple, and another run in the sixth. Cal Baptist closed out the scoring in the top of the seventh with another 3-run homer off the bat of Geanie Jenkins, her team-leading fourth of the campaign.
The Lancers, who came into the day batting over .415 as a team, were held in check for 3 innings by Cougar pitcher Kris Franks, who yielded just 2 hits through the first 3 frames while striking out 4. However, Cal Baptist adjusted and chased Franks out of the circle through 6 innings.
In the second game, Cal Baptist exploded for 6 runs in the second inning with Goforth’s 2-run homer being the big blow that put the Lancers up 4-0 at the time. Cal Baptist collected 6 of their 12 hits during the outburst and relied on the pitching of Sarah Sherman the rest of the way. Sherman allowed 5 hits in 5 innings, striking out 4. She stranded 3 Cougars in scoring position.
With the sweep, Cal Baptist improves to 27-0 overall, 4-0 in the GSAC.
Shimasaki had 3 hits on the day. Carter extended her hitting streak to 12 game with the home run in the first game before having it snapped in the 5-inning shortened second game. Azusa Pacific falls to 11-8 overall, 0-4 in the GSAC.
