SANTA ANA, Calif. - Despite taking a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dons Softball team could not hold off the No. 12 ranked Cerritos Falcons (2-1) as they allowed four runs in the final inning to drop the contest by a score of 7-4 on Thursday afternoon.

Freshman pitcher Katie Neal gave Santa Ana (0-2) a chance to win with a solid performance in the circle. The right hander from Norco allowed just three earned runs (7 total) while striking out four in 6.2 innings. 

The Dons offense was quiet for much of the day but showed up in the sixth inning. 

Amanda Carrasco gave SAC a good start to the inning after being hit by a pitch. A couple batters later, Sierra Griego recorded a bunt single which also led to a throwing error to score pinch runner Payton Samuels, cutting the Falcon lead to 3-1. 

The rally continued as Jojo Westerfield just missed a home run but settled for an RBI double off the left field fence to make it a 3-2 game. Alyssa Armijo followed that with an RBI single to right center field, scoring Westerfield and tying the game at three. The Dons capped the inning with another RBI single by Nyah Veals to give themselves the lead heading into the final inning. 

Although the Dons had all the momentum at that point, things quickly changed after Cerritos managed to get a couple baserunners. With two outs, the Falcons came up with two hits and benefitted from a couple SAC errors to take back the lead and win it, 7-4. 

Santa Ana will have another chance to get into the win column when they go on the road to face Rio Hondo (2-1) on Monday at 2:30 p.m.