Toros Push Through as Regular Season Slims Down

Cal State University, Dominguez Hills Women’s Softball continues to fight for every win as they get closer to defending their championship title.

As California State University, Dominguez Hills Softball inches closer to the end of the regular season, the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) regular season champion will soon be crowned and give way to the annual end of season conference tournament, hosted this year at Toro Diamond.

In the past weeks, the women swept Biola University, split two games at Concordia, lost by one run in all three games against Chico State and took turns with the Otters to split a four-game series against Cal State Monterey Bay.

During the Biola sweep, pitcher Alyssa Olague threw a shut-out in game one, ending the game 6-0, while she, Sara Bhatt, and Ashley Weis kept the defense alert on the mound and finished game two, 8-3.

Kaylee Hull, Alex Davis, and Maiya Lopez were strong with the bats and made moves during the Biola series. The sophomore, Hull, had a season-high of three hits in the final game against Biola while her partner in crime and fellow sophomore, Davis, had a combined total of two hits and two runs during the two games.

Davis has been on the front lines consistently and commented on her recent aggressive plays.

“It’s most important to get the amount of reps you need before leaving practice every day. I’ve taken this year to especially focus on being and feeling prepared for every weekend…what helps me the most is envisioning the best outcome during the play,” Davis said.

The Toro backstop, Lopez, was on the top of the fielding leaderboard with eight putouts in the first matchup and six putouts in game two.

“Going into the Biola game or any other game defensively I prepared myself to always be ready when runners are on and think ball first and have my teammates’ backs. It felt good that I could have my teammates back when finding out I had 15 POs (putouts) in total that day,” Lopez said.

The Toros lost 2-0 in the first game of their doubleheader against Concordia but finished on top in the second game, 2-0. Hull and Davis persisted with two hits each during the first game. They made a comeback for game two when shortstop, Raquel Jaime, doubled in the third inning and brought home Davis, followed by Hull hitting a home run in the fourth to build the lead.

The next series was more of a bummer for CSUDH as they lost by one run in each game. However, they started to get their groove back when they returned home and faced off against Cal State Monterey Bay. The Toros won two out of four games ending each win with a one-run victory, 2-1 and 1-0 respectively.

The next step for the women is to get past one more regular season series and then prepare for the CCAA conference tournament on their home field May 4-6.

Lopez explained the team's game plan, her personal focus, and what she is most excited about as the end of the regular season and conference tournament approaches.

“As a team, our main focus is to play our game and see no opponent. My main focus is to have my pitcher’s back and stay confident…What I am looking forward to the most when thinking about the championship is traveling with my teammates and getting to have that experience again like last year,” Lopez said.

The Toros' quest to win the West begins to take shape as the season winds down, and the fight to defend their title is only going to get tougher.