Radeke Tosses Shutout as Warriors Take 1-0 Lead against Moorpark

TORRANCE, Calif. --- Sophomore Madilyn Radeke tossed a complete-game shutout as No. 5 El Camino College scored a 3-0 victory over No. 12 Moorpark in game one of the 3C2A Southern California Regionals at the ECC Softball Field.

Radeke set the tone early, striking out the side in the first inning and would finish with a career-high six strikeouts in the victory. She allowed just five hits and one walk for her 14th win in the circle.

Meanwhile, Emma Garcia and Malia Martin both tallied two hits with Martin driving in a pair of runs to supply the run support. Lilly Lewis and Radeke also had hits for the Warriors to round out the offense.

For the Raiders, Amanda Smith took the loss as she tossed six innings and allowed three runs, just one earned, on six hits. She walked two and struck out four.

The teams were deadlocked in a scoreless tie until the Warriors finally broke through in the fifth inning. Radeke led off the frame with a single to right field and then advanced to third after the ball was booted by Ashlyn Olson. Garcia drew a one-out walk and then stole second to put a pair of runners in scoring position.

But Smith struck Cheyenne Navarro out for the second out and was almost out of the inning unscathed. But Martin smoked a 1-1 pitch back to the circle where Smith got her glove on it, changing the trajectory of the ball. Mallory Ahklagi was headed toward the second-base bag and then had to reverse course to field the ball, making a dive to keep the ball in the infield.

Martin reached safely and Radeke scored easily but Garcia never stopped running and scored all the way from second on the infield hit, beating Ahklagi's throw home to give ECC the 2-0 lead.

The Warriors would add a third run in the sixth inning on an error and that was more than enough for Radeke, who stranded the bases loaded in the seventh. She ended the game by striking out Alexis Lopez for her career-high sixth strikeout of the game to give ECC the 1-0 lead in the series.

The teams will return to action on Saturday at noon for game two. The Raiders won the coin toss following Friday's game and will be the designated home team for the game and bat second.

A win for the Warriors would clinch a trip to the 3C2A Super Regionals for the first time since 2019. A win by Moorpark would force a deciding game three at approximately 2 p.m. or 20 minutes following the conclusion of game two.