Early Mistakes Haunt Owls Late

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Baseball team gave up five runs over the first two innings, an early mistake that came back to haunt the Owls late. Citrus' offense didn't get going until the final half of the game when they outscored visiting LA Mission College 5-3 in the final four innings, but it was too late in a 8-5 loss.

As previously mentioned, LA Mission jumped on the Owls early taking advantage of some Citrus fielding miscues to score five runs, of which only three were earned. Citrus meanwhile didn't even record a hit in the game until a single to right field by sophomore Joshua Chua in the bottom of the fifth innings.

Mission would add two more scores in the top of the sixth to take a 7-0 lead, before Citrus finally got their offense moving with a response in the bottom half of the inning. Freshman Dominic Baca drove in the Owls' first run via a sacrifice fly to center field that plated sophomore Rudy Casarez III. A few pitches later, freshman Steven Mendoza brought in sophomore Ryan Aguilar with a double to center field that made it 7-2.

The Eagles would add one more score in the top of the ninth when a runner scored via a wild pitch. The Owls tried to rally. Sophomore Joshua Chua started the inning off with a solo home run to left field. Five at bats later Baca drove in another score with an RBI single to center field with two outs. Mendoza followed that up with an RBI single of his own to center field, but the rally ended there with Citrus still chasing three runs.

With the loss, Citrus falls to 11-17-1 overall and 4-10 in WSC South play. The Owls will look to avoid the sweep and close out their season series against LA Mission on Saturday at 1:00 PM in Sylmar.