Brenna Sandberg finished up a school-record and NAIA-best 32-win regular season on Saturday, and Lauren Nelson's game two walk-off home run capped off Cougar softball's nearly flawless sweep of Hope International, 7-0 in game one and 8-0 in game two.

#13-ranked CSUSM finishes the regular season 35-13.  Hope International finishes its season 14-32.

It was business as usual for Sandberg, who has been brilliant this season from start to finish.  She was dominant in game one, going the full 7 innings and allowing just 3 hits and no runs.  She walked just 1 and struck out 11.

At the plate, CSUSM took a 2-0 lead into the fifth, where they blew the game open.  Ciera Ashman continued her red-hot hitting with a leadoff double, and Alicia Ingram slapped a double of her own.  Alyssa Dronenburg then drove in Ingram with a sharply-hit single, and after a base hit by Nelson and a productive ground out by Erica Coelho, Shanti Poston knocked in both runs with a big base hit to left.  After getting to third on an error in the outfield, Poston then scored on an Elizabeth Bush groundout, making it 7-0.

Ingram had three hits in the game for the Cougars, and Ashman had two hits and scored two runs.

Between games, the seniors from both teams were honored.  For the Cougars, this year's class of team leader Lindsey Preovolos, athletic centerfielder Elizabeth Bush, and excellent hitting second baseman Erica Coelho all started in the Cougar softball program's first-ever game game back on February 3rd, 2007.  This is the first class of Cougar softball players who have stayed in the program for all four seasons of its existence, and after the program's humble beginnings at former home field Mission Hills High School, it was fitting that their final warm home crowd reception came at a field they can truly call home.

Game two was much of the same, with CSUSM taking an early lead and extending it late.  Ashman led off the bottom of the first with a booming triple, and Ingram doubled her home.  A Shanti Poston base hit with two outs put CSUSM up 2-0 early.

That lead would increase in the fourth, with Ashman, Dronenburg, and Coelho all driving in runs to put the Cougars up 6-0. 

Meanwhile, Sandberg was cruising on the mound, surrendering just 2 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4.  She gave way to Ashman after the big fourth inning out of reach, and Ashman went on to throw two innings of no-hit ball.

In the sixth, after Dronenburg singled with one out, Nelson provided a quick ending to the contest with a bomb over the fence in right.  That made it 8-0, ending the game via the mercy rule.

With the regular season now in the books, Coach Dave Williams' squad will set its sights on the A.I.I. Conference Championship starting May 6^th in Houston, Texas.  Last season, CSUSM finished runner-up.