Third Times the Charm

Glendora, CA – For third straight contest, the Citrus College Baseball program ended up in extra innings on Tuesday afternoon. It took 10 innings to decide Tuesday's WSC South contest, after the Owls played 10 innings on Thursday and 13 on Saturday. The third time was the charm for Citrus though, as they finally won in extra innings defeating Antelope Valley College 6-5.

Antelope struck first on Tuesday, scoring in the top of the first inning. The Owls answered in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single to center field from freshman Alex Guerrero Jr., and a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of freshman Mason Jandro. Citrus added one more in the bottom of the third, when sophomore Johnathon Reynoso doubled to left field.

After the first inning blip, sophomore starting pitcher Victor Garcia fell into a groove through innings two through five. The Marauders caught back up in the top of the sixth though when they scored four runs to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 5-3 lead.

The Owls came back in the bottom half of the sixth, and made it 5-4 after sophomore Matthew Reynoso's RBI groundout scored freshman Aaron Torres. Citrus would tie the game up in the bottom of the eighth, thanks to another RBI from Matthew Reynoso, this one a sacrifice fly to left field that again scored Torres.

Citrus would get a scare in the top of the 10th when the Marauders loaded up the bases with two outs, but freshman Conlan Mackenzie, who was otherwise stellar in his 3.1 innings of work, got the final batter of the inning looking to keep the game tied.

In the bottom half of the inning, sophomore Michael Bradley led things off with a single to right field on a 1-2 pitch. Pinch runner Mark Segat advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt via sophomore Nathan Virgen. Four pitches later, Segat scored the game winning run when a bunt by freshman Joseph Ryan down the third base line was mishandled by Antelope Valley.

With the win, the Owls move to 8-8 overall and 2-2 in WSC South play. Citrus will be back at home on Thursday to host LA Valley College at 2:30 PM.