Bender and Bender

Victorville, CA -- Citrus College sophomore Carissa Bender may as well have been two people on Friday afternoon, considering the contributions she made to the Owls' game at Victor Valley College. Bender pitched a solid five innings in the circle and 2 for 3 at the dish with a run and an RBI in the Owls' 11-1 five inning mercy rule win over the Rams.

Citrus wasted little time in putting runs on the scoreboard, with two in the top of the first. Freshmen Kawehi Ephan and Sara Moore belted back to back RBI doubles to put the couple of scores on the board.

The Owls kept it rolling into the second inning, when sophomore Bre Lockett launched her second home run of the year, this one a salami that put Citrus up 6-0. Immediately following Locketts bomb, Ephan recorded her sixth of the year to make it a comfortable 7-0 advantage for Citrus.

Citrus scored once more in the third, getting an RBI single from sophomore Angela Aguinaga to go up 8-0. Victor Valley would scratch out a run against Bender in the bottom of the third, but Bender and sophomore Rebecca Ireland hit a pair of RBI singles to go along with another score when freshman Raeleen Tellez scored on a Ram error to reach their final run total of 11 in the top of the fourth.

In the circle, Bender improved to 1-0 scattering seven hits and a walk while striking out four. Ephan finished 2 for 4 at the plate, while Ireland matched Bender's 2 for 3 day.

With the win, Citrus improves to 3-2 on the year. The Owls will on the road again this coming Tuesday when they take on future conference foe Antelope Valley College. First pitch is set for 3:00 PM in Lancaster.