Remember When?: Bouncing Back – Cal wins Regional, Penner breaks record

By MARK KABOLY

For the Valley Independent

The California University softball team had their backs against the wall in (the) finals of the NCAA Division II Mid-Atlantic Regional Softball Tournament.

Danielle Penner was also in jeopardy of not becoming the all-time single-season winningest pitcher as she needed two victories to surpass Augustana’s Teresa Hartman’s 1990 record of 44.

Cal had to win two games against surprising Shippensburg to move on to the National Championships after the Raiders upset Cal in the first round of the double elimination tournament.

The Vulcans and Penner were up to the challenge as Cal shut out Shippensburg (37-16) in both games, 3-0 and 1-0, as Penner picked up both wins to break the record.

“You have to put it as one of the best games she had thrown in her career just because of the magnitude of the games,” said California coach Rick Bertagnolli. “Our goal was to go 14 innings of no runs and we pulled it off.”

The main reason they pulled it off was because of the dominance of Penner on the mound. 

She allowed just one hit while striking out seven in the first game and three hits while striking out seven in the record-breaking game as she ran her season record to 45-3.

“The record is great but I didn’t strike out 21 people,” said Penner. “I really don’t see it as my record because I know I didn’t do it by myself.”

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