April 27, 2009

Story courtesy of California Baptist Sports Information Office

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — California Baptist University could sense something in the air heading into the final day of regular season play. What they were sensing was the sweet feeling of a sixth straight Golden State Athletic Conference title.

The Lancers (50-4, 21-3 GSAC) captured their sixth consecutive conference crown in the first game of a 6-2, 9-0 doubleheader sweep over Vanguard. CBU becomes the only school in GSAC history to win six conference titles. Only two other schools have even five titles, yet the Lancers have won six in a row. It was also the fifth straight 50-win season for CBU head coach Mike Smith.

“This is such a team award and not about any one individual, including players or coaches,” said Smith. “Winning this thing six times in a row is testament to how hard these girls work. We’ve asked them to buy in to what we do here. We catch grief at times from the girls, but they have bought in and they come to work. They have bought in to what we are teaching and we told them that if they do that, they will have a shot at a championship. I’m proud of each one of them, our coaches and everyone involved in the program.”

Nikki Lowe couldn’t have asked for a better day to have senior day after she went 3-for-6 with four RBIs, two doubles, a home run and a run scored in the doubleheader. The home run was her 35th of her career which ties Geanie Jenkins (2004-07) for the most home runs in CBU history.

Lowe went 2-for-3 with an RBI in the opener while Meagan Silva went 2-for-2 and Ashley Boyd went 1-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored.

Nicole Shoemaker scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second when Nina Cabrales laid down a sacrifice squeeze. Shoemaker beat out the throw at home to put CBU up 1-0. The Lancers took a 4-0 when Ashley Boyd launched her 13th home run of the year.

Vanguard answered in the top of the third when Sarah Howe drove in Amanda Omahen from second with a single to center. Cabrales fielded the ball cleanly and threw a one hopper to Shoemaker at the plate, but the ball kicked off of Shoemaker, allowing Omahen to score.

The Lions made it 4-2 when Howe lifted a solo home run to left in the top of the fifth, but the Lancers answered when Sarah Strong hit her sixth home run of the year to put CBU up 5-2.

Lowe added another run in the sixth when she doubled down the left field line to score Tina Galinato who singled to lead off the inning. That was all the Lancers needed as Tory Ferreira (18-0) threw all but one out, allowing just two runs on six hits while striking out six. Melanie Ahumada came on with two outs and two on in the top of the seventh and struck out the only batter she faced to pick up her second save of the year.

In the nightcap, Lowe and Kendall Gorham combined to drive in six of the nine runs with a pair of homers. Boyd and Hurlbut each went 2-for-3 while Boyd scored a pair of runs and Hurlbut drove in a run.

“Boyd and Lowe have been a great 1-2 punch for us,” said Smith. “We’ve always have gone with our big hitters in the middle of the lineup and speed at the top and bottom. We tried something different this year and went with our big hitters at the top and that has worked quite well. Also moving Hurlbut to the three-spot later in the conference season was huge.”

Boyd scored the first run of the nightcap on a Hurlbut double to right center after doubling to right center to lead off the third. The Lancers tacked on four more in the fourth with the first on a Caty Reeves single to short that scored Cabrales. Lowe then blasted her 13th home run of the year; a three-run shot to left field that scored Allison Smith, who ran for Reeves, and Boyd as well.

After taking the 5-0 lead in the fourth, the Lancers put it away in the fifth with four more. Shoemaker made it 6-0 after she ripped a solo home run to left field. Silva and Galinato then reached base on back-to-back errors before Gorham stepped to the plate and hammered a walk-off three-run homer to score the run rule.

Emma Holden (12-2) picked up the win after allowing just three hits and striking out six in five innings of work.

The Lancers will now play the winner of Biola and Azusa Pacific Tuesday at 2 p.m. in the semifinals of the GSAC Tournament. The Cougars and Eagles kick off the tournament that same day at noon at John C. Funk Softball Stadium.