Patience Is the Key

Lancaster, CA — The Citrus College Baseball program bounced back from Thursday's loss to College of the Canyons on Thursday afternoon by showing some patience on Saturday afternoon when they travelled to Antelope Valley College. Patience was the key as the Owls drew nine walks, and had two more players reach base after getting hit, winning 4-1, despite just four total hits as a team.

Citrus' first foray onto the scoreboard came in the top of the third inning, when sophomore Anthony Virgen led the inning off with a walk. Freshman Rudy Casarez III moved him to second on a sacrifice, and a few pitches later freshman Michael Carlos drove him in with a single to left-center.

The Owls would get a similar result in the top of the fifth, when Virgen again led the inning off with a walk. Crasarez would sacrifice him to second, and four at bats later, sophomore Troy Resch drove him in with a single to right field. In the top of the seventh, Citrus scored twice more getting a bases loaded RBI walk from sophomore Richard Chavez and sacrifice fly to right from sophomore Shawn Sweeney to make it 4-0.

That would end up being more than enough for the Owls as sophomore Cameron Rodriguez (2-2) turned in a strong performance on the hill. Rodriguez went seven innings, scattering four hits and two walks, while giving up just one run, a score in the bottom of the seventh. Sophomore Nicholas Sergi would slam the door in the eighth and ninth, giving up just one hit and no walks, while fanning a pair in picking up his first save of the year.

With the win, Citrus improves to 8-7-1 overall and 2-1 in WSC South play. The Owls will be back at home on Tuesday when they host Los Angeles Valley College. The Monarchs will serve as the home team on the afternoon as they were scheduled to host, but had to play their entire 2015 season on the road due to construction on their field. First pitch is set for 2:30 PM.