Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Tigers Reel in Seventh Straight with Victory over Saddleback

It was another offensive melee for the Riverside City College softball team on Tuesday afternoon against the Saddleback College Gauchos in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action. Riverside pushed their winning streak to seven-in-a-row by defeating the Gauchos 13-1 in five innings.

During this seven game winnings streak, the Tigers have earned three wins via mercy rule. Two of those wins occurred in conference play. In the victory against Saddleback, the Tigers barreled 14 hits with each starter recording at least one base knock.

Sophomore catcher Aeriel Carlson (Highland, CA) launched her 11th homerun of the season coming in the top of the second inning. She is tied for first in the state in round trippers.

Carlson's homerun added to a six-run top of the second inning to highlight the Tiger's offensive showing. Sophomore shortstop Kailee Gilbert (Moreno Valley, CA) kicked off the inning with a two-RBI single through the left side, scoring freshman center fielder Kaylen Gomez (Riverside, CA) and sophomore right fielder Kayla Giannatasio (Corona, CA). Sophomore third baseman Terri Nava (Yucca Valley, CA) followed with a base knock to center field to score Gilbert, backed by a single to center field from freshman second baseman Breanna Ceballos (Ontario, CA) to snag a large advantage and eventually haul in the win.

Freshman arm Riley Peckels (Moreno Valley, CA) earned her seventh win of the season after tossing three innings and allowing just three this. Freshman reliever Lorena Fitch (Corona, CA) saw some action in the circle as she chucked two innings of scoreless ball.

Freshman first baseman Jocelyn Ontiveros (Riverside, CA) and Gilbert went 2-for-3, while sophomore designated player A'loni Appleton (Rialto, CA) went 2-for-2.

The Tigers (18-6, 8-2 OEC) will continue conference play on Friday, March 23rd as they take on the Cypress College Chargers at 2 p.m.