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WEST REGION SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
hosted by Chapman University
Contact: Doug Aiken
714-997-6900
Release Date: May 9, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chapman Wins Sixth Regional Championship In Ten Years
ORANGE, Calif. – Brittany Ziegler's bases loaded single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Chapman's a 3-2 win over Linfield College in the West Region championship game on Sunday. The Panthers advance to the NCAA Division III national championship tournament for the sixth time in the past ten years under head coach Janet Lloyd.
The Panthers rallied from an early 2-0 deficit and tied the score with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Sandra Burns singled home the first run of the game for the Panthers and Ashlie Vohs doubled home Burns two batters later. Chapman reliever Marissa Becerra kept the Wildcats at bay after that, holding Linfield to just four hits over four and one-third innings and earned her second win of the tournament.
Chapman loaded the bases in the seventh inning after a leadoff single by Katherine Searing, a bunt single by Keely Starr and a one-out walk by Kailee Roeser. Ziegler then laced a 1-0 pitch from Linfield reliever Liz Coburn into the right-centerfield gap for the game-winner.
Linfield scored both of its runs in the top of the third on a two-out, two-run single by catcher Molleigh Keenan, scoring pinch runner Bethany Dobie and centerfielder Shelly Steinke. Steinke finished the game 3-for-4.
In the first game of the championship double-header, Coburn held the Panthers to just four hits and shutout Chapman for just the second time this season, 1-0, for her 20th win of the year. Linfield also managed just four hits off of two Chapman pitchers, but scratched across an unearned run in the bottom of the fifth to take the lead for good.
Chapman will be the number one seed at the national championships and
will face eighth-seeded Moravian College (Pa.) on Friday at 11:00 am local
time in Salem, Va. in the first game of the tournament.
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West Region Championships All-Tournament Team
| Catcher | Angela Gonzales | East Texas Baptist University |
| First Base | Stephanie Morgan | Linfield College |
| Second Base | Robin Thistle | Cal State Hayward |
| Shortstop | Christy Shipley | East Texas Baptist University |
| Third Base | Melissa Simerlink | Chapman University |
| Outfield | Shelly Steinke | Linfield College |
| Outfield | Keely Starr | Chapman University |
| Outfield | Kelly Stewart | Linfield College |
| Designated Player | Sandra Burns | Chapman University |
| Pitcher | Marissa Becerra | Chapman University |
| Pitcher | Liz Coburn | Linfield College |
| At-Large | Jennifer King | Cal State Hayward |
| At-Large | Brittany Ziegler | Chapman University |
| At-Large | Jessica Galaway | Linfield College |
| At-Large | Maggie Wilder | Chapman University |