Rustlers Rein In Owls

Citrus College and Golden West College battled it out under gloomy skies, with the Rustlers stealing an 11-9 victory.

The Owls close out non-conference action with a 7-9 overall mark, while the Rustlers improve to 11-5 on the year.

Citrus out-hit Golden West 15-to-10 but left 10 runners stranded in the loss.

Jared Gener had a solid showing at the plate, finishing 3-for-5 with one run scored and an RBI. Conner McKinney (2-for-4) and Robert Moreno (2-for-5) each went long in the game.

Golden West took a one-run lead after the top of the second, but the Owls tied it up in the bottom of the third off a Robert Valdivia RBI single.

When the Rustlers tacked on two more runs in the fourth, Citrus answered right back in the bottom half of the inning. Moreno blasted a two-run homer to right field, evening things up 3-3.

Once again, Golden West took the lead, but Citrus took it back in the bottom of the fifth. With bases loaded and no outs, a wild pitch scored the tying run and Gener knocked in another with a hard-hit infield single. The Rustlers managed to get an out, but Josh Logan knocked a base hit to left to score McKinney before Santiago Castro sent Moreno home with a single before Golden West could get out of the inning, 7-4.

The Rustlers took back two runs in the sixth, 7-6, but a McKinney RBI double kept the Owls in front in the bottom of the sixth.

Golden West evened the score in the seventh before taking the lead, 11-8, in the eighth to put some pressure on the home team. McKinney knocked a long ball in the bottom half of the inning, but it was all the Owls could get as the Rustlers took the game.

Citrus College hosts Antelope Valley College on Tuesday at 2 p.m. to kick off Western State Conference action.