Cougars Drop Opener

MODESTO, Calif. – Miscues and missed opportunities got the best of Azusa Pacific as the Cougars' dropped their 2002 season opener, falling 3-2 to Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening round of the Diamond Sports Best in the West Invitational Friday morning.

Freshman pitcher Megan Alkire looked sharp in her collegiate debut but was undone by a quartet of Cougar fielding errors that directly led to 2 runs.

The Toros scored first when they parlayed a stolen base into a run after Cougar catcher Jaime Norman's throw to third base sailed into the outfield.

The Cougars answered in the fourth inning on a Lorna Lyttle home run that knotted the score at 1-1. However, CSUDH answered in its next at-bat. With the bases loaded and no outs, the Toros hit back to Alkire who threw home for one out. However, Cougar first baseman Jennifer Robison was unable to come up with Norman's throw to double up the hitter, allowing a runner from second base. The Toros added a much-needed insurance run in the seventh when a single to left was booted by Kelli Thiederman allowing the batter to move to second. She later scored on a single.

Lyttle capped the scoring with another bomb in the bottom of the seventh.

The Cougars managed 6 hits, but the only 2 that got out of the infield were Lyttle's home runs.

"Megan pitched well enough to win," said Cougar head coach Sharon Lehman. "We just didn't hit and make simple plays."

Print Friendly Version