Owls Swept by Canyons in Pair of Close Calls

Santa Clarita, CA - The Citrus College Softball team headed up to SoCal #9 College of the Canyons on Tuesday afternoon for a pair of important WSC Blue contests. The Owls put together a pair of close calls with the Cougars, coming up short 3-1 in game one and 4-3 in eight innings in game two.

In the first game, it was Canyons who lit up the scoreboard first, posting a run in the bottom of the first. The Owls would pull even in the bottom of the third when sophomore Kali Smith reach first on an error by the Cougar second baseman that allowed sophomore Haley Gomez to score from second base.

Canyons quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning with a sac fly, and then added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. The Owls meanwhile put base runners on in fourth when Gomez hit a two out single and again in the sixth when freshman Karissa Martinez laced a two out double to center, but both were left on base as Citrus failed to score another run.

In the second game, Canyons once again jumped out of the gate with a lead, scoring twice in the bottom of the first. The Owls would slowly work on the deficit, getting a run by Smith when she scored from second on another Canyon miscue. In the top of the fifth, Citrus plated two more for their first lead of the day off an RBI single from freshman Celine Spathias and another run by Smith off yet another Canyons error.

The Owls would hold onto the lead until the bottom of the sixth, when a Citrus error finally led to a Cougar run. Citrus would go down in order in the top of the seventh, and then get a base runner in the top of the eighth via a two-out walk by freshman Jade Nua. Nothing came of the Nua walk though, as the game was sent to the bottom of the eighth. The Cougars would load up the bases with no outs, before lifting a sacrifice fly to center field to score the game winning run.

With the two losses, Citrus drops to 13-21 overall and 8-7 in WSC Blue play. The Owls move two games back of Bakersfield College in the wins column for second place with six to go. Citrus starts their final crucial stretch on Thursday when they travel to Antelope Valley College for a 2:30 PM showdown with the Marauders who have gone 6-2 in WSC Blue play since being swept by the Owls back on Tuesday March 22nd.