No Repeats

Glendora, CA - For a few moments on Tuesday afternoon, the Citrus College Baseball team looked like they may have to see a repeat of their earlier contest this season with SoCal #19 San Bernardino Valley College that ended in a 5-5 tie. That didn't happen though as freshman Dominic Baca came off the bench and hit a 0-2 pitch to center field delivering a walk-off victory for the Owls 7-6.

 The Owls found themselves in an early 2-0 hole after San Bernardino Valley got new life after a two out strikeout pitch ended up in the dirt and then at the back stop allowing the Wolverines to keep the inning going. After that they got a two RBI double, and picked up an early 2-0 lead.

Citrus quickly rallied back though, getting back to back RBI groundouts from sophomore Rudy Casarez III and sophomore Ryan Aguilar. One inning later, sophomore Joshua Chua gave Citrus their first lead with an RBI double to center field that plated freshman Kyosuke Ushimaru.

The lead wouldn't last for long the Owls as San Bernardino Valley tied the game back up at 3-3 with a score in the top of the third. Citrus would have to wait two innings to regain the lead, as they scored twice in the bottom of the fourth. Sophomore Michael Carlos drove in the first run of the inning by drawing a bases loaded walk. Casarez needed just four pitches to do the same, and just like that the Owls were back in front 5-3.

In the fifth, both teams put runners on the base paths, but neither got past first base. The Wolverines would take advantage of an error by the Owls in the top of the sixth to score a pair of runs in the top of the sixth to tie the game up yet again, but the Owls had an answer in the bottom half when Carlos deposited a 3-1 pitch over the left field fence for his first career collegiate home run.

With one out in the seventh, the Owls would turn the ball over to freshman Davis Radcliffe, and Radcliffe was sharp. Radcliffe need all of six pitches to get the final two outs of the seventh, both strikeouts swinging. In the eighth, Radcliffe did give up a home run to left that would tie the game up, but he settled down and got six of the next eight batters out, two via strikeout to keep the Owls in a solid position.

Citrus would have a good chance to end the game in the eighth when Chua made his way all the way to third. The Owls couldn't get him in though, and the heroics would have to be saved for the ninth. The first Owl batter of the inning would fly out to center field, but then Citrus caught a break when Casarez reached on an error by the San Bernardino pitcher. Aguilar followed that up with a single to right-center, and the duo then moved to second and third via a wild pitch.

With runners on second and third and just one out, the Owls would get at least two chances to get the winning run in. The first attempt didn't go as planned, with the batter striking out looking on a tough 2-2 curve ball on the inside corner. That brought Baca to the plate with two outs. Baca watched the first two pitches, both curve balls, drop in as strikes. On the third, Baca gave it a ride, hitting a line drive to center that just dropped before the sliding center fielder from San Bernardino could make a play on the ball, plating the winning run in Casarez.

Radcliffe would earn the win thanks to his 2.2 innings of solid work at the end of the game, improving to 3-0 on the year. At the plate, Chua was the only hitter with more than out hit, going 2 for 3 with a run and an RBI. Ushimaru would go 1 for 3 with a pair of scores, while Carlos was 1 for 2 with a pair of runs, two RBIs, and three walks drawn on the day.

With the win, Citrus improves to 5-4-1 overall. The Owls will be on the road on Thursday when they travel to Mt. San Jacinto College for a 2:00 PM showdown with the Eagles.