Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 A day after Ashley Salvino threw a no-hitter, Cougar softball extended its winning streak to six games with a pair of wins over Dominican. The first came on the strength of 13 Melissa Lerno strikeouts – though CSUSM needed a two-out extra inning rally to pull out the 5-4 victory. The second was a much easier 5-0 win. In game one, the Cougar defense could just as well have stayed in the dugout the first couple innings, because Lerno was absolutely dealing. She struck out the side in both the first and second innings, pounding the strike zone with her overpowering fastball and wicked changeup. Marly Barth would get the Cougar offense going in the first. A day after bombing two home runs against Northwest Christian, Barth knocked a single up the middle to plate Erica Coelho and give CSUSM a 1-0 lead. Lerno continued her dominance in the third inning, easily dispatching of Dominican’s first two hitters to bring her consecutive strikeout total to eight. The next hitter would snap the streak with a groundout. Dominican broke up Lerno’s perfect game in the fourth. Her ninth strikeout came on a ball in the dirt, allowing the runner to reach. Amber Lara then sliced a double to right-center, putting two runners in scoring position with one out. A pair of passed balls would allow both runs to score, giving Dominican a 2-1 lead. A bloop single after another passed ball made it 3-1, despite Lerno having 10 strikeouts and allowing a total of one hard-hit ball. Lise Leibl got the Cougar comeback started in the fifth, chipping a base hit just over the shortstop’s head. Nicolette Nassif followed that up with a dribbler to the catcher that she beat out, and a throwing error let Leibl reach third. After Nassif stole second, Erica Coelho got the run in with a grounder, and reached base when it was misplayed. A clean RBI single by Shanti Poston tied the game. Barth followed that up with a single of her own, but Coelho was cut down at the plate, and the game remained a 3-3 tie. Lerno got through an easy sixth, thanks in part to a brilliant sliding catch by Liebl in left. For the first time, she didn’t add to her season-high strikeout total of 12 – though at this point, winning the game was of much greater concern. The tie persisted to the bottom of the seventh, and went into extras after neither team could score. With the international rules in effect, each team started their half of the eighth with a runner on second. Dominican’s was cut down at the plate trying to score on a wild pitch, but a two-out triple and passed ball put the Cougars down 4-3. That brought San Marcos to the plate with its last shot to tie, and for most of the inning it looked dim. Leilani Madrigal was placed on second, but after being bunted over to third, she was gunned down at home on an extremely close play. With two outs and just a runner on first, Holly Russell was CSUSM’s last chance. She would deliver, drilling a double down the left field line to put runners on second and third. Elizabeth Bush was intentionally walked, brining up catcher Lindsey Preovolos for her first at-bat of the afternoon. In the biggest spot of the game, Preovolos somehow stayed patient. She laid off close pitch after close pitch, eventually drawing a walk that forced in the game tying run. But the Cougars weren’t content with just tying it. Lise Leibl capped off what was a career day for her, claiming the title of hero by lining the game-winning single through the right side. Leibl was mobbed by her teammates at first base as they celebrated the big comeback win. Nearly lost in the nail-biting win was Lerno’s magnificent performance. The Cougar ace finished with 13 strikeouts, walked just one, and didn’t allow an earned run. The red-hot Cougars will get a tough test on Wednesday, when they’ll travel to face University of San Diego.