May 26, 2010

DECATUR, Ala. - California Baptist exploded for four runs in the seventh inning en route to a 10-3 win over William Carey (Miss.) the semifinals of the losers bracket Tuesday at Wilson Morgan Softball Complex. The Lancers (64-3) will take on Oklahoma City Wednesday at 11 a.m. CDT for the right to play in the National Championship game against Simon Fraser (B.C.). The title game will be played Wednesday at 3 p.m.

The defending national champions met Oklahoma City in the first round of double-elimination and suffered a 2-0 setback to snap a nine-game winning streak dating back to April 20.

With the loss, William Carey exits from its third trip to the event after going 5-2 and ends the season at 45-15. This was the first time that the Lady Crusaders had advanced into the double-elimination bracket. While in Decatur, the William Carey broke the national championship's single-game home run record after blasting four out of the park against Mount Mercy (Iowa) in the first round of pool play on May 20.

California Baptist pounded out 15 hits and scored 10 earned runs off of the Lady Crusader pitching staff. Kelsey Jo Smith took the loss, giving up four earned runs on seven hits. Emma Holden improved to 22-0 from the circle for the Lancers, scattering nine hits and giving up three earned runs. The sophomore also struck out six.

Kendall Gorham and Briana Corral had multi-RBI outings for the Lancers at the plate, including a 4-for-4 outing from Corral. California Baptist had longballs from Corral, Gorham and Strong to push its home run total to 11 in Decatur. The Lancers are one shot over the fence shy of matching Simon Fraser's 12-home run performance in 2007. Corral's solo shot in the second inning was her fifth of the event to break the individual home run record. The mark of four home runs was previously held by three individuals, most recently Kelyn Mendoze of Mobile (Ala.) in 2008.

With a pair of doubles from Ashley Boyd and Nicole Shoemaker in the game, California Baptist also takes over with the most doubles in a single national championship with 14, a record that was held by Shawnee State's (Ohio) 12 since 1996.

William Carey pushed a single run across in the bottom of the third inning and posted two more in the bottom of the fourth. Judy Barber's single to left field scored Smith from second base to put the first Lady Crusader run on the board.

Three singles were strung together in the William Carey fourth inning and a sacrifice fly by Lark Nightengale paid off by bringing in Bree Neidhardt to put the score at 4-2. Casey Alexander singled up the middle of the field to send pinch runner Morgan Stewart home to narrow the gap to 4-3, but that would be the end of the scoring for the Lady Crusaders.

Two more Lancer runs in the sixth, followed by four more in the seventh, shut the door on a William Carey comeback. Strong sent a 1-2 pitch sailing over the center-field fence in the sixth and Gorham blasted a three-run shot to right field in the final frame.