Citrus Makes It Two In A Row

Citrus College made it two in a row with an 11-1 victory over West LA Thursday.

The Owls beat the Wildcats 16-12 to open the series on Tuesday and improved to 13-12 on the year, 6-2 in the Western State Conference with their second-straight win. The Wildcats slip to 5-17, 2-6.

Chad Green and Conner McKinney led the Owls with three hits as Citrus out-hit West LA 11-9.

Defensively, Kyle Dixon picked up the first win of his career, striking out five batters in eight innings of work. Anthony Verrone added another strikeout in one inning of work.

Devon Diaz got the Owls on the board first in the bottom of the first after reaching first on one of the Wildcats' six errors. He came home on a Green double to put Citrus up 1-0.

West LA held Citrus in check for the next five innings, but the home team wasn't done yet.

With a runner on second and two outs in the seventh, Green knocked a hard-hit ball inside the infield and Diaz turned on the jets to touch home, 2-0. McKinney then drove in Green with a base hit to left field, 3-0.

The Wildcats managed to break the shutout in the eighth with a run, but the Owls got it back and then some in the bottom half of the inning. Robert Moreno led the inning off with a solo home run before the Owls loaded up the bases. Robert Valdivia walked in another run before Green singled to left field, plating two, while an error sent another run in, 8-1.

West LA changed pitchers, but a wild pitch allowed Green to come home. Dillon Swim drove in another with a single to left, while Jayme Valdez walked in the final run of the game to seal the 11-1 victory.

The Owls look to close out the series at the Wildcats on Saturday at 1 p.m.