California Lutheran University Regals softball was narrowly defeated 3-2 by the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas in a nine-inning battle on Friday, April 5 at Hutton Field. 

“We have to be better to play collegiately we have to be invested all the time, this was a battle for first place today and we lost the battle for first place today, we have to get used to playing under pressure, making adjustments, all those things we have to do to be successful in sports, we will keep pushing that, keep learning, and be ready to go tomorrow as we play a double-header against Claremont,” Head Coach Debby Day said. 

The Athenas struck first in the top of the third to take a 1-0 lead thanks to two singles and two errors committed by the Regals. Junior and two-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week, Ashlyn Flinchum, held the Athenas to one run for the next two innings.

“Ashlyn threw great, she’s really good at throwing the ball well,” Day said. 

The Regals answered in the bottom of the fourth inning, thanks to an RBI double from senior infielder Emily Blank, scoring senior outfielder and pinch runner Ashley Membrere from first base. Junior outfielder Abby Strong followed with an RBI single to bring home Blank and give the Regals a 2-1 lead. 

After two scoreless innings, the Athenas scored a run in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 2 and send it to the bottom of the seventh. In the bottom half, the Regals fell short of scoring, leaving two runners on base.

The Regals had another opportunity to win in the bottom of the eighth, with junior Jasmine Delgado on second base and first-year Kalli Strahm on third base with one out. However, the Athenas retired the next two Regal batters without allowing a run, sending the game to the ninth inning.

The Athenas scored a run in the top of the ninth to take a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, the Regals were held at bay to conclude the game 3-2 in favor of the Athenas. 

“I would say our team has really good grit, that was a 9-inning game, our pitcher Ashlyn, she just balled out, and we’re one swing off basically winning a game so I think everything in this game went really well and luck wasn’t on our side,” Booth said.

Flinchum pitched the entire game for the Regals, recording a season-high of 15 strikeouts. 

“Not getting down is important for me and knowing that I had a good game even though we had a loss, just having faith in my teammates will be able to help us overcome the loss we had today,” Flinchum said.

The Regals ended up dropping the series to Claremont as they split the doubleheader on Saturday, April 6 with the Athenas, getting shut out 5-0 in the first game and dominating the Athenas 8-1 in the second game.

“The goal is to make the conference tournament and in order to do that, we know we have to win some series’, and to do that we got to score runs, can’t win a game without scoring runs, that’s our focus, improving every time, we want to be in the top four, and play our best softball late April, and early May,” Day said.

Following this weekend, the Regals hold an 8-10 overall record and are 5-3 in the SCIAC. The Regals will be on the road to face La Verne on Tuesday, April 9 at 4 p.m. to make up for a lost game in the Regals’ previous series against La Verne due to weather.