Stopped by the Night

San Bernardino, CA -- With game all knotted up at five runs a piece after nine innings worth of play, the Citrus College Baseball team exploded for four runs in the top of the tenth inning. The only thing that could stop the Owls was the night, and it did as the game was called due to darkness in between the top and bottom half of the innings, reverting the game back to a 5-5 tie with SoCal #16 San Bernardino Valley College.

The Owls got the game off on the right foot, scoring twice in the top of the first inning, using RBI singles by freshman Kyosuke Ushimaru and sophomore Ryan Aguilar to go up 2-0. The lead didn't last long though as San Bernardino scored once in the bottom of the first, twice in the bottom of the third to take their first lead, and once more for good measure in the bottom of the fifth to go on top 4-3.

Citrus would start their crawl back in the top of the fifth when they briefly tied the game thanks to an RBI single from freshman Francisco Ramirez that plated freshman Hiroshi Ishiwatari. The Owls stranded six batters though after Ramirez's RBI and couldn't catch the Wolverines until the top of the ninth. Citrus got a gift in that inning via an error by the San Bernardino shortstop, and they took advantage of it when freshman Dominic Baca hit a two RBI single that made it 5-4 Citrus.

The Owls couldn't quite put the game away though, as they got the first two outs in the bottom of the ninth, before giving up a single, walk, and a fateful RBI single that allowed the Wolverines to tie the game up. Citrus would respond like you'd want with four runs in the top of the tenth, but it was all for naught thanks to the creeping darkness.

In the tie, Ushimaru led the way at the plate going 3 for 5 with a pair of runs. Ramirez went 2 for 3 with an RBI, and sophomore Michael Carlos got on base in four of his five plate appearances, but was stranded each time.

With the tie, Citrus moves to 3-1-1 on the season. The Owls will be back home on Thursday when they host Ventura College at 2:00 PM.