Citrus Makes it Two in a Row

Citrus College grabbed its second win in a row with a 12-6 victory over Chaffey College.

The Owls improve to 3-2 overall and hand the Panthers (5-2) their second loss of the year.

For the fifth straight game, the Owls got on the board first, scoring three runs in the top of the first.

Leah Morales led off with a perfect bunt to third before Jasani Zavalza joined her on base with a single through the left side. The duo then came home on a Patty Rodriguez double to the gap in right-center. Samantha Meyndert followed with a double to left and came home on a Panther error to give the Owls a quick 3-0 lead.

Citrus tacked on two more runs in the second after Rodriguez drilled a home run to left center, scoring Zalvalza in the process.

Chaffey broke through in the third with a run, but Citrus upped its lead to 8-1 with three runs in the fifth. Torie Brewer sent two runners in with a hard base hit to center field before Zalvalza knocked an RBI double.

The Panthers tried to rally and plated five runs in the bottom of the fifth, but the Owls responded back with four runs in their next chance at the plate.

With one out, the Owls loaded the bases. Brewer got things going with a hard-to-handle base hit to shortstop, sending Kylie Ruiz in to score. Marissa Gallegos came home on a Panther error before Morales singled up the middle to allow Alexis Cordero to score. Zavalza capped the scoring spree by drawing ball four to send Brewer home and all but seal the 12-6 victory.

Citrus returns home to host Golden West College on Friday at 2:30 p.m., looking to build on its two-game winning streak before opening Western State Conference action next week.