Diaz Has a Day for Owls

Devon Diaz had a stellar showing at the plate to lead Citrus College to a 10-3 victory over Pasadena City College Thursday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 4-3 on the year, while the Lancers slip to 4-3.

Diaz went 5-for-6 at the plate, scoring three runs and batting in another as the Owls finished with 17 hits in the game. Citrus also saw multiple hits from Santiago Castro (2-for-4), Robert Valdivia (2-for-5), Conner McKinney (3-for-5), and Hideaki Tanaka (2-for-5).

Citrus wasted no time to get on the board, scoring three runs in its first chance at the plate. Diaz got things going with a base hit and was joined on base by Valdivia. The pair came home on a Chad Green double before McKinney singled to plate Green, 3-0.

The Lancers responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, but the Owls took them right back with two runs of their own in the second. Diaz scored the first run off a Castro base hit and Valdivia drove in Castro to put Citrus back up by three.

Tanaka kept things going with an RBI double down the left-field line in the third and an RBI single in the seventh, 7-2.

Diaz came home once again in the eighth off a Valdivia base hit and Abel Garibay made it 9-2 after turning on the jets from second to touch home on a McKinney single to the gap at right-center.

The Lancers managed to plate one run in the bottom of the eighth, but Diaz all but sealed the victory with a single to center, scoring Josh Logan from second.

Anthony Verrone threw three innings to earn the win, while Ryan Luiz Harney came in relief and tossed five strikeouts.

The Owls continue on the road, heading to Santa Ana on Friday for a 1 p.m. contest.