FULLERTON, Calif. – All-American pitcher Allie Puente threw 11 scoreless innings and earned both wins in No. 19-ranked Hope International (Calif.)'s 1-0, 5-3 sweep of No. 2 Southern Oregon on Friday at Lions Field.
Puente went all eight frames in the extra-inning opener for the Royals (17-2 overall), striking out 10 for a two-hit shutout. It ended when Alyssa Castaneda hit a one-out single into center field to plate Makenna Stuart, who'd been placed on second base to start the inning in accordance with international, non-conference tiebreaker rules.
Katie Machado was the tough-luck loser in her complete-game effort. She struck out seven, didn't issue a walk and wasn't charged with an earned run.
In Game 2, the Raiders (9-4) put the potential tying runs in scoring position with one out in the seventh for their Nos. 3 and 4 hitters,
Piper Love and
Hannah Clavelle, but Puente got both to pop out on the infield.
Love had a pair of hits in the contest, and her run-scoring groundout tied the score at 3-3 in the top of the fifth. The Royals scored the go-ahead runs in the bottom of the inning, however, getting back-to-back RBI doubles from Katrina Rodriguez and Jazzy Smith. Samantha Villanueva had initially put them in front with a two-run home run in the third.
SOU's
Brooke Nordahl had an RBI double in the third. The next batter,
Sarah Kerling, drove her in with a single.
The Raiders had won eight consecutive games, all on the road, entering the doubleheader. They'll turn next to their Cascade Conference schedule, visiting Warner Pacific for a four-game series March 1-2.
