Softball Falls to Cypress in Conference Showdown

The Riverside City College softball team hit the road on Wednesday afternoon to face off against the Cypress College Chargers in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action. Despite holding the Chargers to a one-run lead through the first three frames, Riverside was unable to get the bats going and fell victim to a 6-0 defeat.

Freshman Elena Perez earned the start at second base and recorded one of her strongest outings thus far. She went 2-for-3 with a double. Freshman first baseman Catherine Martinez was responsible for the Tigers third and final hit.

Freshman Carrah Van Houten earned the nod in the circle and got off to a strong start. Despite allowing one run in the bottom of the first, she went on to blank the Chargers in the following two frames. She received some help from sophomore catcher Zinaida Preciado as she gunned down an attempted base stealer in the bottom of the second.

Van Houten was eventually tagged with the loss after giving up five runs in 3.2 innings of work. Sophomore reliever Marissa Lena-Nares was lights out by tossing two scoreless innings and allowing just one hit.

The Tigers (4-10, 0-2 OEC) will look to earn their first conference win on Friday, February 28 at home against the Golden West College Rustlers at 2 p.m.