CLU Boots Itself Out of Regional : College softball: Regals are shut out, 1-0 and 4-0, as errors contribute to all their opponents’ runs.

Cal Lutheran’s costly errors and lackluster offense prompted an early exit from softball’s NCAA Division III West Regional on Friday.

The Regals, who played host to the regional, bowed out of the double-elimination, three-team tournament without putting up much of a fight in shutout losses to La Verne, 1-0, and second-ranked Buena Vista of Illinois, 4-0, about two hours later.

La Verne (30-8), which defeated Buena Vista (30-7), could win the title when they meet again this morning at 10. The champion will advance to the Division III finals in Decatur, Ill., May 20-23.

Errors contributed to all five runs scored against Cal Lutheran.

“I thought they were ready to play today,” Cal Lutheran Coach Teri Rupe said.

Cal Lutheran (25-11-1), which finished second in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, made it through the first four innings against La Verne without a mistake, but an error in the fifth was all it took for the Regals to lose.

La Verne’s Shelly Moreno drew a walk off Xochitl Castillo’s illegal pitch to lead off the inning. Castillo was called for leaping off the pitching rubber with her trail foot on a full-count pitch. Castillo (13-4), a freshman out of Santa Paula High, was called twice for illegal pitches which resulted in walks.

“I know what I have to do (to pitch correctly), but it’s difficult when you naturally hop,” Castillo said. “Everybody has a different pitching style. That’s mine and it’s really difficult to correct.”

Moreno advanced to second on Myrna Alvarez’s sacrifice bunt, then Jackie Alvarez’s ground ball went through the legs of third baseman Bekkah Snider as Moreno scored the game’s only run.

Offense was hard to come by for the Regals, who had only six hits and only advanced as far as second base three times in the two games.

Against Buena Vista, Cal Lutheran committed three of its five errors in the first inning and helped the Beavers get out to a 3-0 lead.

The Beavers scored their first run on a wild pitch by Heidi Stevens (12-7), her 13th of the season. Michelle Tesdahl singled to drive in run No. 2. Later, the Beavers scored again on an errant pickoff throw by catcher Cheryl Aschenbach.

Buena Vista scored another unearned run in the sixth.