Azusa, CA (Softball) – On an overcast and misty Southern California afternoon, the Citrus College softball team rained 16 hits over two games on visiting Rio Hondo College. The Lady Owls were impressive offensively in their 8-0 and 10-2 wins in Saturday’s double-header.
In the first game the Lady Owls cruised. Pitchers Brittany Patterson and Nicole Molina combined for five hitless innings, allowing just three runners on base. With Patterson taking the ball for the start, she quickly got things going by inducing ground balls against the first two batters she faced.
Patterson then got into a bit of trouble giving up a walk, and facing runners on first and second with two outs after an error by short-stop Melanie Hansen. Patterson settled down however, striking out Rio Hondo’s Sam Rios looking, ending the threat and inning.
With Patterson making short work of the Roadrunners line-up, Citrus’ offense took care of business rolling up five runs in the bottom of the first inning alone. After Lauren Pulley started the inning off by grounding out, the Lady Owls began to fire on all cylinders.
Ashley Rollice kick-started things with a single to left-field, and was followed by another single to left-field this time off of the bat of Hansen. Freshman Cassie Ward would help load up the bases after being hit by a pitch, bringing up sophomore Jen Anaya. After taking the count 2-1, Anaya hit the ball to the third baseman, who threw out the runner at home.
With bases still juiced and two outs, Desiree Perez stepped to the plate and ripped a two-run double up the left-field line. Amanda Mays would join the fun four pitches later with a single to left-field that scored two more runs. Sophomore Denise Hernandez would add the final run as her single to center-field scored Perez and gave the Lady Owls a 5-0 advantage.
With a large cushion built up early on, the Citrus pitching cruised. Patterson allowed just one base runner after the first inning, and struck out another five batters in three more innings of work, including the third inning where she struck out the side.
Citrus would add three more runs before all was said and done, one in the third off another RBI single from Mays. Freshmen Tiffany Alvarez and Melissa Salas would drive in the final two runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth off back to back singles.
When all was said and done the Owls had a mercy rule victory in the fifth inning, giving Patterson her sixth win of the season and improving her record to 6-4.
In the second game Citrus continued to do much of the same. This time it was Molina who would take the ball for the start, and she made good on that retiring the first three batters of the game in just six pitches.
On the offensive side, the Lady Owls kept on rolling. Sophomore Kym Abayan would lead off the inning with a walk, and after a steal was moved to third base on a sacrifice by freshman Melissa Salas.
With Abayan waiting on third, freshman Nicole Shaughn drove her home with an infield single. Two batters later, Shaughn would come home after a single by Ashley Corrigan. Two more runs would score before the inning was up, one off a throwing error by the Rio Hondo catcher and the other an unearned run after Corrigan scored, thanks in large part to an error by the Roadrunner’s short-stop.
With four runs to back her up, Molina continued to soar. Molina threw just 47 pitches over four innings, giving up three hits and striking out two batters. When she left in the top of the fifth inning, she left the Owls in a good spot up 4-0.
In the top of the fifth Molina gave way to Patterson who struggled, throwing 34 pitches in the fifth alone. With Patterson struggling, the Citrus defense didn’t help much with two errors. When Citrus finally got out of the fifth, Rio Hondo had cut into Citrus’ lead by scoring two runs both unearned.
With Citrus’ lead cut in half, the Lady Owls’ offense came roaring back in the bottom of that same inning. Melanie Hansen would lead off the inning with a single right up the middle, and was followed by Amanda Mays who also hit a single, putting runners on first and second with no outs.
At that point Rio Hondo fell apart committing three errors, starting off with an error off a Jen Anaya hit that led to Hansen scoring. With Citrus back on the board, Denise Hernandez added more with a single up the left-field line that scored Mays. Before the inning was over Citrus scored four more runs, all unearned, to grab their second mercy-rule victory of the day.
Molina would earn the win for her efforts running her record to 3-1. With the two wins combined Citrus’ record improved to 11-4 on the season. Citrus will hit the road next Tuesday as they round up their WSC cross-divisional games with a trip to Allan Hancock. Game time is set for 2:30 PM.
Box Score - Game 1
Box Score - Game 2