Azusa, CA (Softball) – Freshman out-fielder Lauren Pulley’s two run home-run in the bottom of the fifth inning, helped push the Lady Owls 5-2, past Cuesta College in Tuesday’s WSC match-up. It was Citrus’ third win in its first three conference contests, and pushed the Lady Owls record to 5-5 overall.
Sophomore Amanda Mays got the call to start for the second time this season, and pitched extremely well, especially over the final five innings where she faced the minimum amount of batters (15) in that span. Despite the strong finish, Mays struggled in the first two innings, facing runners on the corners with two outs in the top of the first. Mays came up big however, striking out Courtney Minton to get out of the first inning jam.
Though she was able to get out of trouble in the first, things caught up to her again in the second. After leading off the inning with a walk, Mays got the next two batters to ground-out, and after hitting the next batter, Mays found herself with runners on first and second with two outs. Unlike the first inning, Mays gave up a single that scored a run, and gave up another after a wild pitch, giving Cuesta a 2-0 lead after the top of the second.
Trailing by two runs, the Citrus offense came alive, as Ashley Rollice led off the inning with a single to center-field followed by a base on balls walk drawn by Courtney Mihm. With runners on first and second, freshman catcher Cassie Ward stepped up to the plate and rapped a double to deep center-field scoring Rollice and Mihm tying the game up 2-2.
With Mays now taking over the game in the circle, the Lady Owls offense came through three innings later, when Kym Abayan led off the bottom of the fifth with an infield bunt single. Then came the freshman Pulley, as she strolled to the plate and crushed a pitch to deep left-field giving the Owls a 4-2 advantage with her first home-run of the year. Three batters later, Citrus added one more insurance run, after Amanda Mays’ infield sacrifice scored Denise Hernandez to push their lead to 5-2.
In the win, Citrus collected eight hits, with Pulley being the only Owl to collect two as she went 2 for 3 with 2 RBI’s. Mays would pick up her first win of the season, improving her record to 1-1, as she struck out two in the victory. Citrus will hit the road for their next four contests, beginning with Thursday’s conference meeting with LA Pierce. First pitch is set for 2:30 PM.
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