Owls Let Bats Fly

Citrus College had two big innings to grab a 13-8 road victory over Mt. San Jacinto College Tuesday.

The Owls improve to 2-1 with their second-straight win, while the Eagles drop to 1-1-1 on the year.

Citrus got things going in the top of the fourth with runners at third and second as Conner McKinney (1-for-3) drilled a base hit to the gap in center-right to send both runners home, 2-0. The Owls loaded the bases with two outs and Devon Diaz (3-for-5) sent two runners in with a base hit before Robert Valdivia drove in a fifth run with a single to center, 5-0.

The Eagles responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Citrus tacked on three more in their next chance at the plate.

With two outs and runners on first and second in the top of the fifth, John Logan doubled to left to send in one run. Matthew Espinoza kept the rally going with an infield single and McKinney beat out the throw home to increase Citrus' lead to 7-2. Diaz capped the rally with a double down the left line, allowing one run to come in, but the Eagles managed to get the throw to home in time to end the scoring spree.

Mt. San Jacinto added four runs in the bottom of the fifth, cutting the Owls' cushion to two runs, 8-6.

Citrus broke open the game in the eighth, however, once again on a two-out rally. The Owls loaded the bases and a wild pitch sent one run in before back-to-back walks tacked on another two, 11-6. Santiago Castro knocked a hard-hit ball to shortstop and the Owls took advantage to send two runners in before the Eagles could get out of the inning.

Aaron Juarez picked up the win for the Owls, tossing 2.2 innings with two strikeouts, no walks and one earned run.

The Owls head to Rio Hondo College on Wednesday, before returning home Thursday to host Oxnard College.