Off and Rowland
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Citrus | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 0 |
|
Cerritos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
Cerritos, CA -- Citrus College sophomore Mike Rowland got things off and rolling for the Owls on Friday afternoon in Citrus' season opener at Cerritos College. Rowland's three run home run in the top of the eighth inning tied the game up opening the door for the game winner in the top of the ninth in Citrus' 4-3 win.
The Owls didn't get too much going offensively on Friday, getting a runner past first just twice in the first five innings. While Citrus offense was taking up it's time to warm-up, sophomore starting pitcher Carlos Rosales was doing his best to batten down the hatches on the mound. Rosales was strong in six innings of work, giving up four hits and a pair of runs while striking out four.
On the offensive side of things, Citrus' best chance to put some runs on the board came in the top of the sixth when they loaded the bases up with two outs. The late rally failed though as sophomore William Ouellette popped out in fair territory to end the threat.
With time running out, the Owls finally answered the bell in the top of the eighth. Freshman Joshua Page led the inning off with a walk that was followed up with a single through the right side of the field by sophomore Blake James. After freshman Jason De La Pena laid down a sacrifice bunt, Rowland came to the plate and hit the ball over the left field fence to make it three all.
In the very next inning, the Owls got a two out walk from freshman Jonathon Reynoso and then a triple off the bat of freshman Joshua Page that scored Reynoso and gave the Owls their first lead of the day 4-3. Freshman Marcos Medina who relieved Rosales in the seventh inning got the first two outs of the ninth easily, but then hit a batter and gave up a single to right that put runners on the corners. Medina settled down though and got a fly ball to left to give Citrus the one run win.
With the win, Citrus improves to 1-0 on the year. The Owls won't get much time to celebrate the come from behind win as they host the pre-season Southern California's #1 team on Saturday. First pitch against Rio Hondo College is set for 12:00 PM.