LOS ANGELES — Though one of the Occidental College softball team's only two SCIAC victories came against Cal Lutheran back on March 9, the Regals captured the season series on Saturday afternoon at Bell Field with a pair of wins over the Tigers. The final scores did not reflect the hits column, as Oxy left 14 runners base, dropping both games of the doubleheader despite out-hitting the Regals 13-12.

Game 1: Cal Lutheran 3, Occidental 2

Oxy's ace pitcher Brittany Vacura (Elk Grove) retired the first eight Cal Lutheran hitters and kept the Regals off the scoreboard until the fifth inning. The Tigers broke the ice in the bottom of the third, manufacturing a run after a Julia Nicholson (Upland) leadoff single, sacrifice bunts by Patricia Phillimeano (Roseville) and Kathleen McLain (Washington, D.C.) and an Ali Goldberg (Los Altos) RBI single that plated Nicholson from third. Both Nicholson and Goldberg finished the contest 2 for 3.

The Tigers' fifth and final hit of the game came in the bottom of the fourth on a Jerika Barron (Half Moon Bay) solo home run to deep left center field.

Up 2-0 heading into the top of the fifth, Oxy seemed to have everything under control. But Cal Lutheran knocked Vacura around for a single, double and triple in the frame, scoring three runs off the three hits and one Tiger error to take the 3-2 lead that would go on to be the final score. Six different Regals had one hit apiece in the game, as Liz Mertel and Christina Hunter recorded RBI and Kelly Lockwood, Kayla Sakamoto and Katelyn Downing scored runs.

Both Vacura and Downing took perfect games into the third and also went the distance. Vacura allowed two earned runs while scattering six hits to go along with one walk and six strikeouts.

Game 2: Cal Lutheran 9, Occidental 0 (5 innings)

Goldberg got the nod in the circle, and though she allowed one run in the top of the first and two more in the top of the second, the Tigers remained within striking distance down 3-0 with the bases loaded in the bottom of the second inning. However, Oxy failed to capitalize, leaving the sacks full in the second and a runner just 60 feet away in the third on its way to stranding a total of 10 runners on the basepaths.

Though the Tigers' offensive production stalled, the squad was able to rough up Regals starter Shonna Christianson for eight hits in the abbreviated second game. Both Phillimeano and Nicholson went 2 for 2 with a pair of singles each while Barron, Jacqueline Shimamoto (Santa Clarita), Ashley Noone (Roseville) and Meghan Luera (Pasadena) all contributed base knocks.

In her sixth start of her freshman campaign, Goldberg stayed out of trouble until the top of the fifth, when Occidental head coach Ali Haehnel pulled her with the bases loaded after she surrendered three runs on three hits and two errors to an explosive Cal Lutheran offense. Her relief pitchers allowed three additional runs — two of which Goldberg was responsible for — before Amber Garland (Torrance) was able to retire the side. In four official innings, Goldberg struck out two, walked four and recorded five earned runs on six hits.

Her Regals counterpart, Shonna Christianson, struck out one on her way to a complete game shutout while contributed to her own cause at the plate, going 2 for 4 with two runs scored. Lockwood also had a multi-hit performance at 2 for 3 with one run and two RBI.   

The Tigers (11-21, 2-18 SCIAC) look to snap their 12-game skid in a pair of doubleheaders next weekend. They host La Verne on Friday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. before traveling to CMS on Saturday at noon and 2 p.m.