Gonzo for Gonzalez

Glendora, CA -- The Citrus College Softball team had an explosion of runs on Thursday afternoon when they hosted Santa Monica College in a Western State Conference Blue Division opening double-header. Sophomore Jessica Gonzalez set the tone for the Owls in the first game with a whopping eight RBI's as Citrus won 17-0 and 22-3 each in five innings.

Citrus got the scoring going right off the bat, when Gonzalez recorded her first two RBI's of the game with a bases loaded single back up the middle of the field in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Victoria Baltazar scored minutes later on a wild pitch, before Gonzalez scored thanks to an error committed by the Corsairs.

The Owls scored twice more in the second, getting a sacrifice fly from freshman Sara Moore and a run from sophomore Bre Lockett when she scored on a passed ball. Lockett would be responsible for Citrus' score in the bottom of the third inning as well as she drove in sophomore Rebecca Ireland to put the Owls up 7-0.

Citrus put the game away for good in the bottom of the fourth inning when they put 10 runs on the board. Gonzalez hit two home runs in the inning, the first a two run bomb to center field that hit the scoreboard, and the second a grand slam. Sophomore Carissa Bender also hit a home run in the inning, before wrapping up the game in the top of the fifth, to secure her third win of the year in the circle.

In the second game, Santa Monica showed some fight from the get go. The Corsairs launched a pair of home runs to take their first lead against the Owls 3-0. Citrus didn't panic though and scored twice in the bottom of the inning, one off an RBI double from Lockett and the other an RBI single from sophomore Angela Aguinaga, to cut the lead to one.

After the rough start in the first, freshman starting pitcher Arianna Sanchez settled down shortly thereafter, facing the minimum amount of batters in the second, fourth, and fifth innings. Santa Monica only threatened again in the third when they put runners on first and second with two outs. Sanchez (3-1) rallied though and got one of her six strikeouts in the game to end the inning and the threat.

With Sanchez cruising in the circle, the Owls' offense continued to chip away at the Corsairs. The Owls quickly took the lead in the second with five more runs. Ireland scored the innings first run on a wild pitch. Freshman Kawehi Ephan joined in on the fun with a two RBI single, that was followed closely by another RBI from Gonzalez. Aguinaga drove in the final run of the inning when she hit a sacrifice fly to center to put the Owls up 7-3.

Citrus broke the game open in the third with 11 runs. Moore hit a three run home run in the inning, while freshman Alyssa Lozano and Lockett both drove in two RBI's a piece with hits of their own. The Owls put the game away for good in the bottom of the fourth with four more scores that put the Owls at a season high 22 runs scored.

With the pair of wins, Citrus improves to 7-3 on the year and 2-0 in WSC Blue Division play. The Owls will be back out on the diamond this weekend as they take part in a triangular with Long Beach City College and Southwestern College. Citrus opens up their two games with Long Beach at 1:00 PM before taking on the host Jaguars at 3:00 PM at Southwestern College.