LOS ANGELES — The Occidental College softball team opened SCIAC play with a pair of doubleheaders over the weekend, dropping all four games. The Tigers lost big twice to La Verne on Saturday and then rebounded against Chapman Sunday with two hard-fought losses.

Senior center fielder Jacqueline Shimamoto led the Tigers offensively, batting .500 on the weekend (6 for 12) to go along with three RBI and one run scored.

Defensively, sophomore pitcher Amber Garland tossed a pair of complete games for Oxy, but couldn't quite pick up a victory in the circle despite allowing just two earned runs and four hits while striking out three in her second start of the weekend on Sunday afternoon.

Due to injuries across the board for the Tigers, freshman volleyball player Tiareh Cruz and senior soccer captain and All-SCIAC selection Elissa Minamishin converted to softball players for the weekend. Cruz played in all four games at second base and even got the starting nod in Game 2 against La Verne. Minamishin checked into right field for two innings in the same contest.

After Occidental catchers Kristine Kocjan and Meghan Luera both sustained injuries last weekend, everyday first baseman Morgan Giusti and left fielder Alex Battest played two games apiece behind the dish for the Tigers, marking their first games as backstops of their respective collegiate careers.

Game 1: La Verne 19, Occidental 2 (5 innings)

La Verne's offensive production was too much for Occidental to handle, as the Leopards struck first and went on to score six runs in each of the second, third and fourth innings on their way to a blowout victory.

Six Leopards tallied multi-hit performances for a team total of 18, with Raven Freret, Alexis Schiff, Katie Thompson, Breanna Delgadillo and BreeAnna De La Rosa each recording extra-base hits.

Freshman Alex Battest went 1 for 2 in the game for Oxy, plating sophomore Ali Goldberg with a double to right center in the bottom of the first. Shimamoto was the only Tiger to record multiple hits in the contest, going 2 for 3 and driving in senior leadoff hitter Jerika Barron with an RBI-double in the third.

Goldberg, Barron, and sophomore second baseman Mariah Montgomery each added a base knock for Occidental.

Haley Jaquess picked up the win in the circle for La Verne, allowing just the two earned runs off five hits and one walk while striking out five in four innings of work. Lindsay Godwin came on in relief to close out the game in the fifth, surrendering just one hit and striking out one.

The Tigers used three arms in the contest. Goldberg was tagged with the loss after giving up six earned runs off seven hits and two walks while striking out one through just two innings. Sophomore Angelica Preciado then lasted only one inning, scattering four hits and walking three batters that led to four earned runs.

Newcomer Emily Pham tossed the final two frames, striking out one while allowing three earned runs to cross the plate off seven hits and one walk. She did, however, keep the Leopards off the scoreboard in the fifth, their only scoreless inning of Game 1.

Game 2: La Verne 11, Occidental 0 (5 innings)

The Leopards' bats remained hot in the afternoon-cap, as five La Verne players went off for multi-hit games and the squad tallied eight extra-base hits and exploded for four runs in each of the two opening frames.

Schiff — who finished a double shy of the cycle — catalyzed the charge, going 3 for 5 with five RBI and smashing a 2-run homer to left center in the top of the second inning. Freret went 2 for 4 and added three RBI for the Leos.

Preciado picked up the lone two hits for Occidental in the contest — a pair of singles in the third and fifth innings, respectively — as Godwin earned the victory by allowing only one hit and striking out two in four innings in the circle. Olson dealt in the fifth, also giving up just one hit and and striking out one.

Garland went the distance for the Tigers, but got the loss after getting smacked around for 11 earned runs off 14 hits and three walks.

Game 3: Chapman 3, Occidental 0

Things got better for Oxy on Sunday afternoon at Chapman, as they held the Panthers to just three runs and seven hits and played error-free softball in Game 1 of a doubleheader in Orange, Calif.

But the Tigers were again limited offensively, mustering just three hits — two from Barron (2 for 4 with a double) and one from Montgomery (1 for 3) — and not breaking into the runs column.

Amber Perez (3 for 3 with two RBI and a one run) paved the way for the Panther win, opening up the scoring with an RBI single to right field in the bottom of the first inning that plated Larissa Rinauro.

Perez tacked on another RBI base-knock, this time to left, in the third that scored Amy Serven. She later scored a run of her own on a Lisa Perez — no relation — RBI double two batters later.

Both pitchers threw complete games. Natalie Both notched the victory for Chapman, scattering just the three hits, walking two and striking out eight. Goldberg improved from Saturday, but still got the loss after surrendering the three earned runs on seven hits and three walks.

Game 4: Chapman 4, Occidental 3

Occidental took its first lead of the weekend, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning against the Panthers after a Shimamoto RBI triple scored Goldberg and the next batter Battest brought Shimamoto home with an RBI double. Shimamoto went 4 for 4 with two RBI and a run scored and was just a homer short of recording the cycle, while Battest went 1 for 4 with an RBI.

Goldberg (1 for 4 with two runs scored) and Giusti (1 for 2) each added a base knock for Oxy, giving the Tigers their highest hits tally of the weekend at seven.

But after scoreless fourth and fifth frames, Chapman booked a four-run sixth led by an Amber Perez 2-run blast.

Despite a Shimamoto RBI double in the top of the seventh that plated Goldberg, Occidental's comeback effort fell short.

Both got the win after hurling the game's final three innings, striking out three and giving up just the lone run off three hits and one walk. Perez started in the circle for Chapman, striking out one and getting tagged with two runs — neither of them earned — off four hits through three innings of work. Taylor Cartwright also struck out one hitter in one scoreless inning pitched.

Garland again went wire-to-wire, striking out three and scattering eight hits and walking two for four runs in her six innings hurled.

The Tigers (1-9, 0-4 SCIAC) travel to Whittier next Saturday (Feb. 22) for a doubleheader at noon and 2 p.m.