Oscar’s No Slouch

Glendora, CA -- Citrus College sophomore starting pitcher Oscar Gomez pitched seven shutout innings on Saturday afternoon, and the offense got enough done to get him the win. Gomez proved he was no slouch on the hill, and the result was a 3-1 victory for Citrus.

The game would prove to be a pitcher's duel of sorts, with neither team getting much offense through the first half of the game. Gomez let runners on in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, but each time a runner never advanced past second base, allowing the offense to take it's time to get going.

It needed time, as Citrus was held hitless and didn't even get a runner on until that fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, things turned around though, when sophomore Joshua Page led off the inning with a double to left-center field. In the next at bat, the Oxnard third baseman let the ball roll through his legs putting runners on the corners with no outs.

Sophomore Warren Fishback drove in the game's first run with a double to left field that scored Page and put runners on second and third. After the next batter popped out in foul territory to the third baseman, the Owls went with a squeeze bunt with freshman Matthew Reynoso at the plate. Reynoso laid down a near perfect bunt, but the Oxnard first baseman sailed his throw resulting in two runs scoring and giving Citrus a 3-0 lead.

Gomez would find some trouble in the sixth, putting runners on first and third with one out. Gomez got a strikeout swinging and a fly out to center field to end the threat, and then barely had a blip in the seventh to put the Owls in a great chance for the win.

In the eighth, Gomez gave way to sophomore Luis Saballos who mowed through the Condor batters in the eight. In the ninth, Saballos gave up a solo home run with one out, but settled down and got a pop up to the shortstop and a groundout to second base, to secure the victory and record his second save of the year.

With the win, Citrus improves to 4-3 on the year. The Owls will be back out on the field next Thursday when they host another Western State Conference North Division foe. Citrus will take on Ventura College in Glendora at 2:00 PM.