Extra Pain

Whittier, CA - For the third time in four games, the Citrus College Baseball team experienced the pain of losing a lead in the bottom of an extremely late inning, and sending a game into continual extra innings. For the second time in that span, the extra innings ended in a loss for the Owls as they lost to host Rio Hondo College 6-5 in the bottom of the 11th inning on Saturday afternoon. 

 Citrus jumped on the Roadrunners early, getting a sacrifice fly from Kristian Scott that brought in Donovyn Curiel in the top of the first, and then a sacrifice fly from Benjamin Aguilera in the top of the second, that brought in freshman Jesse Villalobos to give Citrus a 2-0 lead. 

The lead would hold until the bottom of the third and fourth innings, when Rio Hondo added a single run in each to tie up the game. In the bottom of the fifth, the Roadrunners nabbed their first lead with a pair of scores to make it 4-2. Undeterred, Citrus got an RBI double from Alejandro Orellana and RBI single from Aguilera in the top of the sixth to knot the game back up at four runs each. 

The game would stay tied until the top of the 10th when Aguilera looked like he would be the hero of the day when he hit a solo shot that put Citrus back in front 5-4. Unfortunately it was all short lived as a wild pitch in the bottom half of the inning made it a tie game for the third time, and an error by the Owls in the bottom of the 11th handed the Roadrunners the victory. 

In the win, Citrus was led at the plate by Aguilera who finished 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. On the mound, sophomore Roberto Baldenebro would be the victim of another no decision, despite finding away to battle through 11 hits over the course of seven innings, giving up just four runs and fanning a pair. 

With the loss, Citrus drop to 0-3-1 on the year. The Owls are scheduled to travel to Mt. San Jacinto College on Tuesday afternoon, but the weather may say otherwise. If Citrus does get to San Jacinto, first pitch is set for 2:00 PM. ​