Softball Walks It Off against Santa Ana

It was a low scoring affair on Wednesday afternoon as they Riverside City College softball team played host to the Santa Ana College Dons in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action. Sophomore Chloe Lockhart carried the team both offensively and in the circle as she led the Tigers to a 2-1, come-from-behind victory.

Lockhart started in the circle and was downright dominant throughout her entire outing. She allowed just six hits and worked out of some jams that were created by poor defense at times. She wiggled out of a first-inning pickle with two runners on and forced an inning ending groundout to sophomore second baseman Sarah Franco-Colis.

Her second frame was just as troublesome as she had a runner on third with one out. She stranded the runner by forcing a pop out to herself and an inning ending groundout to freshman shortstop Destinee Gonzales. Her third inning was flawless despite a out hit, but she once again forced an inning ending groundout to herself to maintain the 0-0 tie.

Santa Ana was able to push across a run on a mental mistake by the defense. After a leadoff error by the Tiger third baseman, the following batter laid down a sacrifice bunt. Freshman third baseman Adrianna Montalvo fielded the bunt and threw the runner out at first successfully. However, the defensive rotation on the bunt play was not properly covered which allowed the runner to come all the way home. The Dons took a 1-0 lead after the play.

Riverside did not score until the final frame as sophomore center fielder Sophia Franco-Colis reached on an error. She advanced to second on a wild pitch then moved to third on a single to left field from left fielder Alyssa Carlisle. Lockhart stepped up to the plate and barreled a two-run single through the left side, scoring So. Franco-Colis and Carlisle, leading to the 1-0 win.

"Today we had a different approach," said Lockhart. "We were more aggressive and on top of it throughout the entire game."

The game was stagnant until the seventh inning and the Tigers came to life when it counted the most.

"We just kept trying to hit the ball hard," said Carlisle. "We never gave up."

Lockhart (8-9) went the distance by allowing just six hits and one unearned run. She fanned one batter while keeping the entire Don's roster off balance. In addition to her strong showing in the circle, she went 2-for-3 at the dish with the game-winning two-RBI single.

A. Montalvo went 2-for-3, while Carlisle scored the game winning run, had one hit and swiped one bag.