Owls Fall in Five at No. 17 Antelope Valley

No. 18 Citrus College softball suffered a 20-5, five-inning loss at No. 17 Antelope Valley College on Thursday, April 16. The defeat moves the Owls to 26-12 overall and 7-4 in conference play.

Antelope Valley scored in each of the first three innings, building a 13-0 lead as Citrus battled windy conditions and early defensive miscues that led to several unearned runs.

The Owls responded in the fourth inning behind a big swing from Miranda McKiernan, who blasted a grand slam to score Isabel Tyrrell, Jocelyn Escobedo and Anaya Burley, cutting the deficit to 13-4.

Antelope Valley answered with seven runs in the bottom half of the fourth to extend the lead to 20-4.

Citrus plated its final run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Izzy Poveda that scored Burley.

McKiernan led the Owls at the plate, going 3 for 3 with her fourth home run of the season and four RBIs. Citrus totaled 10 hits, with contributions from Alivia Martinez, Grace Twente, Escobedo, Burley, Aalijah Aranda, Poveda and Brooke Whiteman. Burley scored twice and reached base twice, while Martinez added a hit and two walks.

In the circle, Brissa Ayon took the loss, allowing 10 runs (three earned) over 2.2 innings. Camila Abundis threw the final 1.1 innings, surrendering 10 runs (seven earned) while striking out two.

Citrus committed three errors, contributing to 10 unearned runs, and left nine runners on base.

The Owls will look to bounce back in their final regular-season home game when they host Victor Valley College on Wednesday, April 22 at 2 p.m.