Mounties Manage Comeback Over Owls

No. 8-ranked Mt. San Antonio College pulled off a comeback to steal an 11-8 victory from Citrus College in non-conference action.

The Owls slip to 15-18 on the year and the Mounties improve to 25-7.

Mt. SAC took the lead first with one run in the second, but Citrus came up big in the fourth.

Conner McKinney led the inning off with a double to left field and was joined on base by Devon Diaz. The Mounties got the next two outs, but Jin Hattori drilled a home run over the fence in left. Robert Valdivia followed with a solo shot in a similar spot to up the Owls' lead to 4-1.

Mt. SAC got two back in the top of fifth, but Citrus struck again in the bottom half of the inning. Matthew Espinoza tagged up on a Diaz sacrifice fly before Chad Green blasted a two-run homer.

Two Mountie errors scored another Owl run in the sixth to give the home team an 8-3 cushion, but Mt. SAC began chipping away at it. The Mounties scored two runs in the seventh and one in the eighth, before tying and taking the lead in the ninth.

The Owls tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth but couldn't get their bats hot to drop the 11-8 loss.

Diego Cruz had a solid outing on the mound for the Owls with three strikeouts and no earned runs.

Citrus and Mt. SAC turn right around to face each other again, this time on the Mounties' turf on Thursday at 6 p.m.