A Double Threat at Dominguez Hills : College softball: Jennifer Boen plays both games of Lady Toro double-headers--first as ace pitcher and then as dangerous designated hitter.

You wouldn’t be far off base if you described sophomore Jennifer Boen as the leader of the Cal State Dominguez Hills softball team.

In her second year as a Lady Toro, Boen leads the team in hits with 64. She is also its top pitcher, with an overall record of 18-7 and a 1.05 earned-run average in California Collegiate Athletic Assn. play.

And, according to Coach Janis Reutz, Boen is also the team’s spiritual leader. “She gives us a lift when we need her to. You don’t find the player who will do anything that you ask of her too often, but she is just that kind of player.”

For example, Reutz said, Boen often plays both ends of a double-header, a rarity for a starting pitcher. Yet most college softball games are scheduled as double-headers. In the second game of the day, Boen is usually the designated hitter.

It’s not an easy transition to make, Boen said. Between games, she has to change her outlook completely.

“I get psyched up to pitch, and then I have to get myself calmed down enough to be a good hitter,” she said. “That’s tough.”

Last year, Boen was a utility infielder and an occasional starting pitcher. As a utility player, she garnered all-CCAA honors; as a pitcher, she posted a 4-1 record with an 0.40 ERA in eight appearances.

The biggest change this season has been the Lady Toros’ improved hitting, Boen said. They are batting .262 compared to only .207 last year. And because her teammates are hitting well, Boen herself gets better pitches to hit.

The Lady Toros are 29-24-1 overall, but their CCAA record, with one conference game left, is a disappointing 4-14. They are out of contention for post-season play.

Boen isn’t discouraged, though.

“Now that we get to play spoiler, the wins will be good ones,” she said. “People took us lightly at the beginning of the season, and this is the time of the year that we can make them regret that. The season is never over for a team if they can play spoiler.”

Boen said she has not had any injuries, but Ruetz said soreness in her arm--the result of pitching so many innings this year--has recently kept her from playing in the field.

When the other starting pitcher, Kim Park, left the team for several games because of frustration with the play of the infield, Boen had to pitch both games of the double-headers.

“It really took a lot out of me physically when Kim left the team,” Boen said. “By the time the second game rolled around, the opposing teams were really starting to hit my pitching. I don’t know if it was because I was tired or they had just seen enough of my pitching to know what pitch to look for.”

With Park’s return, Boen said, things are back to normal and playing is much more enjoyable.

To be successful, she said, the team needed Park. She said there was no malicious intent when fielders made numerous errors behind Park early in the season.

Boen started the year playing first base, but only until basketball player Melissa Punch could join the softball team. Punch leads the Lady Toros with a .394 batting average.

That was the last time Boen played the infield, though she has occasionally played the outfield when needed.

Boen, who comes from Bakersfield, said she moved south to see what else California had to offer. There is more to do in the Los Angeles area, she said, but now that the newness has worn off, she finds it unpleasantly crowded.

What she misses most is her parents, Boen said. Last year was the toughest, she said, because it was her first time away from home.

Boen is a business major with an emphasis on accounting. After her playing days are over, she expects to get a job as an accountant.

“Business classes are the one thing that I like about school,” she said.

Those classes are demanding, she said, and in order to get in enough study time, she sleeps only six hours a night.

There isn’t much of a future for softball players after college, but Boen said she looks forward to playing the game as long as her body holds out.

At Dominguez Hills, she said, she works hardest on team play, on the togetherness that Coach Ruetz says the Lady Toros need to have in order to win.

With two years to go, Boen is already at the top of her game. Her only question, she said, is whether she can continue to improve.

“I hope I can continue to compete with the same strength for the next two years that I do now,” she said. “I want to get the job done.”