Glendora, CA (Baseball) – After getting an extra innings win earlier in the week, the Citrus College baseball team fell short this afternoon, losing in extra innings to LA Mission College. The Fighting Owls held a lead going into the top of the 9th, but lost it on timely hitting by Mission.
Shaun Pearce got the call to start for the Fighting Owls, going 5 innings for Citrus. Pearce looked strong through the first 2 innings, but got into a 2-out bases loaded jam in the top of the 3rd. Pearce came out unscathed however, as he struck out Mission batter Rich Mestas, to pick up his 4th K in the first 3 innings.
Pearce struggled again in the 4th, as he gave a double to Chris Romo to lead of the inning. Pearce then gave up a single that drove Romo home to give Mission a 1-0 lead. Mission would strike again 3 batters later, as Brent Cicogna’s sacrifice fly to left field pushed their lead to 2-0.
On the offensive end, the Fighting Owls struggled against Mission pitcher Alex Casillas, who was perfect through the first 4 innings of the game. The Fighting Owls finally got a hit off Casillas in the 5th, when AC Grable stroked a single to left center-field. Citrus loaded up the bases with two outs, but Manny Martinez popped up to the first baseman on the first pitch he saw to end the Citrus threat.
The Fighting Owls continued to peck away at Casillas, and in the bottom of the 6th inning Citrus finally broke through. Ryan Cornejo kick started the inning with a single up the middle. After Casillas hit Jacob Medina to put runners on 1st and 2nd, Tony Mancuso roped a double off the left-field fence to drive in Cornejo and cut the Mission lead to 1. On the very next pitch AC Grable hit a deep fly ball to left-field that was caught, but the ball was deep enough to score Medina who was on third and tie the game up at 2 all.
In the bottom of the 8th, Citrus struck again when Jacob Medina led off the inning by hitting the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence giving the Fighting Owls their first lead of the day at 3-2. The Owls weren’t able to muster another run, and sent it to the top of the 9th to seal their fate.
Ariston Crane, who came in for Pearce in the top of the 6th, had pitched 3 scoreless innings until the 9th. LA Mission came out swinging as center-fielder Jose Labatos led off the inning with a double to right-field. Crane then settled down, and struck out pinch-hitter Steven Schulte.
Crane wasn’t as lucky with the next batter however, as Steven Pujol hit a single through the right field side scoring Labatos and tying up the game. Crane would get out of the inning with the next batter, but with the Fighting Owls weren’t able to answer in the bottom of the same inning and the game would be sent into extra innings.
Both teams traded meaningless at bats in the 10th, before Mission pulled ahead in the top of 11th. After getting the first batter to pop-out, Crane gave up a single to Labatos, and then struck-out Schulte. With Pujol, who hit the game tying run earlier in the game, at the plate, Crane gave up another single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. Crane would walk the very next batter to load up the bases with 2 outs. David Mughadem then walked to the plate and calmly stroked a single to left-center scoring two runs, and giving the Mission a 5-3 lead.
The Fighting Owls threatened in the bottom of the 11th with two-outs. Chris Gomez drew a walk before Dennis Dunn hit a screamer down the right-field line that turned into a double and put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Citrus brought in little used Chris Padgett, who battled before striking out on a fastball low and away.
With the loss Citrus falls to 11-28 on the season and 7-14 in conference play. Ariston Crane gets hit with the loss and sees his record fall to 0-1. The Fighting Owls will be on the road for 3 of their final 4 games, beginning with a trip to finish off their regular season series with LA Mission. The game will be Tuesday April 24, with a 2:30 first pitch time.
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