Glendora, CA (Softball) -- The Citrus College Softball team dropped an 11-4 home contest with State #6 Riverside Community College. The Owls fell in large part to the nightmare they had with Riverside’s leadoff hitter who went 4 for 5 with 6 RBI’s and three runs scored.
After giving up a run to the Tigers in the top of the first inning, Citrus looked poised to go toe to toe with Riverside. The Owls answered with a score of their own in the bottom of the first when a single to center field off the bat of freshman Amanda Salazar scored freshman Mercedes Menchaca.
Citrus took the lead the very next inning, when freshman Rebecca Ireland launched a solo shot over the left field fence to make it 2-1 Owls. Citrus again increased their lead in their third inning, when a double from Salazar scored sophomore Lauren Vargas and made it 3-1 headed into the fourth.
That’s when the wheels came off. The Tigers rolled up five runs in the fourth to go ahead 6-3. Riverside continued to add to that over the final three innings, scoring once more in each of the fifth and sixth innings, and then three more in the seventh to reach their total of 11 runs.
With the Owls able to do little with the rolling Riverside offense, the Citrus offense stalled. The Owls put runners in scoring position in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings, but little was made of it. Citrus’ only score in that stretch was in the seventh when a Riverside error led to a run for freshman Veronica Ramirez.
In the loss, Citrus was led by Salazar who went 3 for 3 with two RBI’s. With the loss, the Owls’ record falls to 2-2 on the year. Citrus will be back at home on Tuesday when they play host to Oxnard College. First pitch is set for 3:00 PM.
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