BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The Pacific softball team earned a doubleheader split against CSU Bakersfield Sunday afternoon in a non-conference showdown at the Roadrunner Softball Complex.

Pacific 7, CSU Bakersfield 1
 
Vanessa Strong earned the start in the circle for the Tigers (2-6) and recorded her best game so far this season. Strong pitched seven solid innings, allowing one run on five hits. The junior from Oakley, Calif., also tallied a career-high seven strikeouts while giving up no walks.
 
The Tigers quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead over the Roadrunners (2-6) in the first inning, highlighted by a Rian Dirmeyer two-run home run. After Emily Budelli began the game with a lead-off single, Dirmeyer recorded her third home run of the season, a two-run shot over the center-field fence to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead. Dirmeyer, who leads the team with a .393 batting average, finished the game with two hits, three RBI, and scored one run. Later in the first inning, another run was plated for the Tigers as Delaney Scully scored on a Talissa Montez RBI double. 
 
Scully recorded the best game of her young career as she finished the game with two hits, three RBI, and tallied two runs. The freshman from Valencia, Calif., extended the Tigers' lead in the fifth inning as she sent 2-1 pitch over the center-field fence for her first-career home run. Scully tallied an RBI double later in the sixth inning, solidifying the victory as Hamilton scored the seventh run of the game for the Tigers.
 
CSU Bakersfield 5, Pacific 0
 
The Roadrunners jumped out to an early lead in the second game of the doubleheader, scoring five runs in the first two innings of play. Bethany Hammer pitched 4.2 innings of relief after Amiyah Aponte earned the start in the circle. Hammer finished the game with a season-high six strikeouts and only allowed one hit throughout the rest of the game.
 
Marissa Fabian was the lone Tiger to record a multi-hit game. Fabian tallied two singles in two at-bats for the Tigers.
 
"It was nice to get in the win column today," Head Coach Brian Kolze said after the game. "Though we split the doubleheader, we had some solid pitching from Vanessa [Strong], and Bethany [Hammer]." "We swung the bats extremely well in the first game," Kolze later stated. "Hopefully we can clean it up a bit and be more consistent next weekend."
 
Pacific returns to action on Friday, Feb. 25 as the Tigers travel to Phoenix, Ariz. to take on Colgate in the Lopes Up Classic at 9:30 a.m.