Lady Toros Eliminated From Softball Regionals

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ softball team was eliminated from the NCAA Division II Western Regional Tournament on Saturday after losing to top-ranked Cal State Northridge, 6-0, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 4-3, in back-to-back games at Northridge.

The Lady Toros, making their first NCAA appearance since 1982, lost their second game in the double-elimination tournament when San Luis Obispo rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning on Robin Mitchell’s two-out, two-run drive to the right-center field wall of losing pitcher Kim Park.

Dominguez Hills had taken a 3-2 lead with two runs in the top of the seventh. A wild pitch by Michele Socci enabled Lisa McNeil to score the tying run before Nicole Stelter singled to center to put the Lady Toros up by a run.

In the first game, Northridge took advantage of six Dominguez Hills errors and the two-hit pitching of Debbie Dickmann to win easily.

The Lady Toros finished their best-ever season with a 35-22-1 record under first-year Coach Janis Ruetz, who loses only three starters.