Owls Start Hot Against Cougars

Citrus College struck first and held onto a 5-2 victory over the College of the Canyons Tuesday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 16-19 on the year and move to 9-7 in Western State Conference-South action. The Cougars drop to 15-19 overall and 8-8 in conference.

Devon Diaz helped Citrus waste little time with a triple to lead off the bottom of the first. Conner McKinney then blasted a no-doubter over the fence in left to put the Owls up 2-0.

Robert Moreno tacked on another run in the fourth after Jared Gener tucked a base hit inside the left-field line, upping the Owls' lead to 3-0.

Canyons broke through in the seventh with a run, but Citrus answered back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. With Diaz at third, Chad Green knocked a base hit through a gap on the left side to send Diaz home before coming home on a Moreno double that bounced over the third baseman's head in fair territory, 5-1.

The Cougars scored one more run in the ninth, but it was all the Owls would allow.  

Diego Cruz got the game off to a hot start with no runs in his two innings of action, striking out two batters. Ryan Luiz Harney picked up the win with five strikeouts and Kaj James grabbed his fourth save of the year, striking out one to secure the victory for Citrus.

The Owls and Cougars continue their series on Thursday at the College of the Canyons with first pitch slated for 2:30 p.m.