Owls Knock-Off Two More Ranked Teams

Glendora, CA — The Citrus College Softball program continued it's strong start to their 2015 campaign on Friday afternoon and evening when they played host to another pair of ranked programs. The Owls knocked off both squads defeating SoCal #4 Cerritos College 4-3 and SoCal #7 Fullerton College 4-2.

In the opening contest against the Falcons of Cerritos. The Owls battled back from two deficits to claim the win. The first was in the bottom of the first inning, after Cerritos fired an opening salvo in the top of the first, the Owls got back to back solo jacks from sophomore Erinn Jaramillo and freshman Jessica Brown.

Two innings later, the Owls found themselves down again, trailing 3-2 after Cerritos scored twice in the top of the third. It would take until the bottom of the fourth, until Citrus was able to respond. Citrus would tie the game up on a double to right-center from freshman Stephanie Noriega. The Falcons tried to get the ball back in to the field, but the throw from the second baseman was wild, and it allowed freshman Autumn Bartholomy to score. Four pitches later, Noriega came home, thanks to an RBI single back up the middle of the field from sophomore Sandra "Gaby" Vera.

That would be all Citrus would need as Bartholomy put together another solid effort in the circle. Bartholomy gave up eight hits and walked three batters, but was able to limit the damage. She struck out four and improved to 4-2 on the season in the circle.

After the early game win, the Owls came back a few hours later to take on the Hornets. The game was tight throughout, and Citrus caught a big break at the end to get the win. Citrus notched the game's first run, when sophomore Megan Troutman singled to left field bringing in sophomore Valerie Velasquez. That would be the last run for the Owls though until the bottom of the sixth.

Meanwhile, Fullerton scored twice, with a single run in each of the second and third innings. Other than those two scores, freshman Anissa Gallegos was steadfast in the circle, allowing seven hits, no walks, and striking out three Fullerton batters over a full game of work.

Citrus' break in the late game would come in the bottom of the sixth inning, trailing by one. With two outs and runners on first and second base, freshman Brittny Zepeda lifted a high fly ball to deep right field. The ball found the glove of the Fullerton right fielder, but she dropped it, allowing both Vera and sophomore Bobbi Stalnaker to score. Four pitches later, freshman Kaitlyn Garza gave the Owls an insurance score when she drove in sophomore Kiana "Kalei" Guillermo to make it 4-2.

With the two wins, Citrus improved to 10-4 on the season. The Owls will resume WSC Blue play on Tuesday when they host Bakersfield College in a conference double-header that begins at 3:00 PM.