Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN MARCOS, Calif.— The No. 8 Cal State San Marcos softball team opened their 2014 season with a pair of victories over the University of Redlands Saturday afternoon at the CSUSM Softball Field, marking the first wins for head coach Laurie Nevarez as a Cougar. Nevarez, who led Redlands to nine straight SCIAC Conference Championships from 2005-2013 led the Cougars to 2-1 and 8-5 victories over her former team.

The Cougars were able to come up with both wins in two tight ballgames, taking a pitcher's duel in the opening game thanks to a complete game performance by Katie Wilkinson and key double play late, while coming up with four clutch runs in the bottom of the sixth inning in the second game to complete the sweep.

With the wins, CSUSM now opens the season with a 2-0 record, while Redlands drops to 0-2. The Cougars have won nine of their last 10 games at home dating back to 2013.

"I'm happy with where the players are at. We played hard but we still have some work to do," said Nevarez. "We'll continue to grow from this point. It was nice to grab those first wins and see some familiar faces on the other side, but we're going to focus on playing Cougar softball regardless of who is in the other dugout."

In the first game, CSUSM was unable to record a hit in either of the first two frames, but Melyssa Bellamy reached base on an infield single to lead off the third inning for the Cougar first hit of the season. Nevarez elected to have Taylor Peters pinch-run and the speedster stole second on the first pitch. The next batter Sarah Quiambao laid down a bunt up the first base line and the aggressive freshman scored from second on a heads up play to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead.

The Bulldogs tied the score in the top of the fourth on an RBI sac fly from Tori Santos, but junior transfer Brenna Parker launched a 3-0 fastball way out to right field to record her first hit at CSUSM and retake the lead 2-1.

Wilkinson cruised through the fifth and sixth frames with 1-2-3 innings, but Redlands threatened in the ninth by drawing  a leadoff walk and a single with nobody out. The junior righthander from Carlsbad then induced a soft liner that second baseman Olivia Lucatuorto snagged and then tagged the base for the double-play. The ensuing batter singled to right field to put runners on first and second base once again, but Wilkinson got Grace Rose to ground out and seal the victory. Wilkinson (1-0) allowed just five hits and two walks, allowing just one run in the complete game effort.

Parker--the MVP of the California Community College State championships at Palomar College in 2013-- earned the start in the bottom half of the doubleheader and gave up an unearned run in the bottom of the first  inning but the Cougars' Melyssa Bellamy and Taylor Ybarra slapped back-to-back two-out RBI doubles to give CSUSM a 2-1 lead after two innings.

Redlands battled back in the third to take a 3-2 lead, but in the fourth CSUSM once again wrapped together back-to-back two out knocks from Ybarra and Caylyn Rodriguez to turn the tables and make the score 4-3.

The Bulldogs scrapped together the tying run in the sixth inning on an infield error, but CSUSM exploded with a four-run frame in the bottom half to put the score out of reach, kickstarted by Ybarra's third hit in of the game and a Rodriguez double to right center field.

Hayley Davis (1-0) gave up a homerun to lead off the seventh but picked up her first career victory, allowing just three hits, a walk, and one earned run in four innings. Along with Ybarra's perfect 3-for-3, 2 RBI game at the plate, Taylor Peters went 2-for-2 with a hit-by-pitch. Rodriguez had two RBI's in the game as well.

The Cougars have the week off before heading up to Turlock to play in the Mizuno Best of the West Invitational hosted by Cal State Stanislaus, where they will face several tough NCAA Division II opponents next Saturday and Sunday.