If anyone thought last year's win over Cal Baptist - ranked #1 in the nation at the time - was a fluke, Cougar softball backed it up today by knocking off the top-ranked Lancers once again. 

#23 Cal State San Marcos pulled off the stunner in game one on Tuesday, winning 3-2 in 8 innings.  CBU got a measure of revenge in game two, taking it 9-2.

CSUSM is now 28-21 on the year; and, more importantly, has tallied wins over the #1 and #2 ranked teams in the nation in the past four days.

Cal Baptist entered the day with a gaudy 47-3 record, hitting over .350 as a team and with an ERA under 0.50.  But the Cougars, particularly starting pitcher Ciera Ashman, were up for the challenge.

Ashman, making just her fifth start of the season, limited the powerful Lancers' offense for all five of her innings.  The crafty lefty pitched to contact, recording just one walk and no strikeouts, relying on her defense to make plays - and they did.  Ashman allowed just one run on six hits, working out of trouble all day and keeping her cool even when runners were in scoring position.

As for the offense, Alyssa Dronenburg set the tone early, blasting a solo home run with two outs in the first.  It's her team-leading ninth long ball of the season.  The Cougars extended the lead in the fifth, with Alicia Ingram and Ashman singling to lead off the inning, and Ashley Estepa knocking an RBI single to plate the second run.

The Lancers finally got to Ashman in the sixth, getting their first three batters on and cutting the lead to 2-1.  In came Brenna Sandberg, and she did a brilliant job of escaping the inning, recording three straight outs to maintain the lead.  CBU would go on to tie it in the seventh, but Sandberg once again stranded runners in scoring position, sending the game into extras.

CSUSM has been very good in extra innings this season, and today was no exception.  The Cougars dutifully got runner Estepa home, with Dronenburg sacrificing her to third and Erica Coelho knocking a sac fly to score her.

It was now up to Sandberg to hold the 3-2 lead.  CBU started by sacrificing their runner over, but Sandberg induced a ground out and fly out to strand the runner there and secure the huge victory for CSUSM.

The Cougars would not immediately let down in game two, and actually gave CBU a little scare of being swept for the first time this year.  Elizabeth Bush recorded an early RBI, and Dronenburg blasted her 10th homer of the season to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead in the fifth.  But it would be short-lived, as CBU scored 8 runs in the final three innings to salvage the split.

CSUSM will host Hope International on senior day this Saturday.