AZUSA, Calif. -- The aura of All-American Lorna Lyttle was seemingly enough to lead Azusa Pacific to a critical sweep of GSAC rival The Master's College Saturday afternoon in Azusa. The Cougars posted a pair of 1-run victories, a come-from-behind 3-2 decision and a 1-0 verdict, to start the second half of conference action and keep alive a potential berth into postseason play.
The Master's tried its best all day to keep Lyttle in check, walking her 3 times, including once intentionally in what proved to be a fatal move. Lyttle, the GSAC's all-time home run hitter who started the day with a hefty .448 batting average and a school-record 12 home runs on the season, was 3-for-4 in the sweep with a game-tying run scored, a game-winning RBI, a triple and 2 stolen bases, her first of the season.
In the first game, The Master's, which like Azusa Pacific was fighting for its playoff life, moved out to a 2-0 lead after 3 innings of play. Catcher Steph Drenon's sacrifice fly scored Robyn Hauptman in the second inning. The Mustangs doubled their lead the next inning when shortstop Holly Pacini doubled home Stacey Cureton. From there, TMC rode the arm of Mandi Ricker, who held the Cougars to just 2 hits through 5 innings of play.
However, in the sixth the Cougars began to chip away at Ricker's armor. Jamie Norman extended her hitting streak to 12 games by opening the inning with a single to center. She stole second base and scored when Lyttle laced a triple to the right-centerfield wall. Jennie Waleszonia then grounded to Mustang third baseman Danielle Tucker, who turned and had Lyttle hung up in a run down between third base and home plate. Lyttle, though, worked her way out of it when Pacini's throw hit Lyttle in the back of the shoulder and caromed away, allowing Azusa Pacific to tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, Azusa Pacific's Cassie Lakey beat out a 1-out grounder to short and then stole second base. She went to third on Jen Robison's ground out to second. The Master's then opted to intentionally walk both Norman and Lyttle to load the bases with 2 outs for Waleszonia. Shiloh Klein replaced Ricker in the pitcher's circle to face the All-GSAC Waleszonia. Waleszonia, however, never took the bat off her shoulder, inducing a walk on 4 straight pitches to send Lakey home with the game-winning run.
The victory gave Azusa Pacific some measure of revenge and was certainly a table-turning experience. Over the past 2 seasons, the Mustangs have beat Azusa Pacific 4 times, including 3 that came in their final at-bat.
Freshman pitcher Nicole Hendrix picked up the victory, improving to a team-best 9-3 on the season. She struck out 4 and walked 2 while giving up 7 hits. She retired 12 of the final 15 batters she faced after Pacini's third-inning double and allowed just 1 runner to reach second base the rest of the way.
In the fifth inning of the nightcap, The Master's found itself in a similar situation as at the end of first game with the score tied, 2-on and 2-out and Lyttle coming to the plate. This time, however, the Mustangs opted to pitch to Lyttle, who in turn ripped a single to center to score Lakey from second base with the game's only run as Azusa Pacific pushed its winning streak to a season-best 8 straight.
Freshman pitcher Megan Alkire was masterful in picking up her seventh win in 13 decisions on the season, her third by way of shutout. She worked out of a bases loaded no-outs jam in the first inning with a pair of groundouts, including a come-backer that she turned into an inning-ending double play. She found herself in trouble again in the second inning when Hauptman led off with a double to left field. However, Alkire struck out Kristie McMurray and Ricker and got Drenon to pop out to get out of the inning. Again in the next inning, Alkire started with a runner at second base when Stacy Cureton led off with a single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Yet, again Alkire buckled down and retired the next 3 Mustangs, 2 on infield pop-ups and another on a ground out.
In the top of the fifth, Alkire got a little help from her friends. With 2 outs, The Master's put together 3 straight singles by Long, Chari Erambert and Pacini. However, on Pacini's infield single to shortstop, an alert Waleszonia caught Long rounding third base and threw behind her to start into an inning-ending rundown between home and third base.
Alkire finished with 5 strike outs and just 1 walk.
For the day, Lakey was 3-for-6 (along with Lyttle, she was the only other Cougar to get a hit in the second game) with 2 runs and 3 stolen bases. With the sweep, the Cougars improve to 24-14 overall, 8-8 in the GSAC, and move to within just one game of fourth-place Vanguard for the final playoff spot.
The Master's, which falls to 22-18 overall and 6-10 in the GSAC, was paced by Hauptman, who came into the game batting just .239 but was an impressive 5-for-5 on the day with 2 doubles and run. Pacini finished 3-for-4.
