Best of Both Worlds

Glendora, CA – The Citrus College Softball team got the best of both worlds on Thursday afternoon when they hosted Glendale College in a WSC Blue Division double header that also served as the Owls' final home games of the 2013 regular season. In the opening contest, Citrus got an exciting hard fought walk off win in seven innings, 3-2 and then cruised in game two defeating the Vaqueros in five innings 11-2.

The game started off precariously for the Owls as Glendale put runners on second and third with no outs in the top half of the first inning. Freshman starter Arianna Sanchez bore down though and got a line drive double play in the next at bat to escape without a scratch.

Citrus struck first in the bottom of the first, when sophomore Angela Aguinaga got it going with a one out bunt single. Aguinaga then stole second and third base, and on the steal of third, the Glendale catcher sailed the throw over the third baseman's head, allowing Aguinaga to score easily and give the Owls a 1-0 lead.

The Owls would add another run in the bottom of the third, thanks to what would have been an RBI groundout, but the Vaquero shortstop booted the ball off the bat of sophomore Jessica Gonzalez and the play instead ended up an RBI E6. The run, scored by sophomore Veronica Ramirez, gave the Owls a 2-0 lead.

Glendale didn't go away quietly though, as they battled Sanchez all day long. Sanchez though stood her ground, not allowing a runner to get in scoring position, between the second and fifth innings. In the sixth, the Vaqueros caught up to Sanchez momentarily scoring on back to back at bats and tying the game up at two runs each.

In the bottom of the sixth, Citrus pushed a runner to second with two outs, but freshman Raeleen Tellez was left standing on second base when the inning ended. After giving up the pair of runs in the sixth, Sanchez put Glendale away in sequential order in the seventh putting Citrus in a position to walk it off.

The Owls pounced on the chance. Freshman Alyssa Lozano led the inning off with a bunt single. Freshman Kawehi Ephan was intentionally walked after, and Aguinaga loaded the bases up right after that with another bunt single. That brought sophomore Jessica Gonzalez to the plate with bases loaded and no outs. Gonzalez watched the first two pitches get called balls, before zoning in on the third pitch and lacing a single to left, bringing in Lozano and giving the Owls the 3-2 victory.

In the second game, the Owls turned the ball over to freshman Victoria Baltazar in the circle for just her third start of the year. Baltazar got off to a bit of a rocky start, giving up a solo homer in the top of the first and a RBI single in the second, but settled in nicely after that.

Trailing 1-0 after the top half of the first, the Owls faced their first deficit of the day. Citrus responded in the best way possible, bombing the Vaqueros for seven runs in the bottom half of the first. Gonzalez drove in the first run of the inning with a single back up the middle. Baltazar got in on the action with a bases loaded RBI walk, followed by a two RBI ground rule double to left field from Tellez. Ramirez got a fielder's choice RBI shortly thereafter, before sophomore Katherine Cunningham drove in the last run on a RBI groundout.

The Owls would score once more in the bottom of the second, when Baltazar hit an RBI single to right that made it 8-2. After that Baltazar settled in, in the circle as well, as she was perfect over the final three innings, recording four of her five strikeouts in that stretch.

Citrus put the game away for good in the bottom of the fourth. Baltazar drove in another run in the inning, as Aguinaga, Sanchez, and sophomore Bre Lockett all scored to make it 11-2 in favor of the Owls.

With the two wins, Citrus improves to 22-12 overall and 13-4 in WSC Blue Division play. The Owls will play one more game this week, this time on the road, as they take on San Diego City College in San Diego on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 12:00 PM.