Third baseman Brook Tufnell came through when DeAnza needed itthe most.

Tufnell hit an 0-1 pitch deep into left field for a game-winninghome run with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to breaka 1-1 tie. The grand slam gave the Lady Dons a 5-1 victory over theChabot Lady Gladiators last Thursday.

“I was just trying to hit it as hard as I could and I did,”Tufnell said.

Julie Town led off the eighth inning with a single to rightfield. With one out, Anita Terraias and Danel Baily followed withsingles of their own to load the bases and set the stage forTufnell’s heroics.

Tufnell went 3-4 and drove in all 5 Lady Don runs. Her base hitoff the pitcher’s glove in the bottom of the fourth tied the scoredat 1-1 after Chabot opened the scoring in the top of the first witha base hit from pitcher Wilmoth scoring leadoff hitter Zelaya.

But pitchers Megan Dunham and Cindy Stankey combined to shutdown Chabot the rest of the way.

Dunham, the Lady Dons starting pitcher, struck out Crawford withthe bases loaded and two outs in the top of the sixth, thwartingChabot’s only serious scoring threat since the first inning.

She went on to struck out four and gave up one run in six-plusinnings.

Stankey relieved Dunham in the top of seventh after Dunhamallowed a leadoff single.

She went on to pitch two scoreless innings to keep the gametied.

“We played good defense, the pitchers pitched well and we madesome really good plays,” said head coach Dennis Pennel . “I’m happythe way they hung in there.”