Tigers Battle But Come Up Short Against Rustlers

Riverside City College battled but couldn't overcome Golden West College in a 5-1 loss Monday afternoon.

The Tigers drop to 6-12 overall and 2-2 in the Orange Empire Conference, while the Rustlers improve to 14-2 on the year, 1-0 in conference.

RCC finished with eight hits in the game, with Abigail Baldwin (2-for-3) and Ruby McDonald (2-for-2) leading the charge. Jocelyn Romero (1-for-4), Jocelyn Uglesich (1-for-4), Rebeca Razo (1-for-3), and Destiny Amezcua (1-for-3) also had hits for the Tigers.

Golden West opened with two runs in the first to jump in front early, before upping its lead to 3-0 in the top of the third.

Riverside broke through in the bottom of the fifth after McDonald doubled with two outs and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Romero drove her in with a base hit through the left side to cut the deficit to two runs, 3-1.

The Rustlers tacked on two runs in the top of the second to add some difficulty to the Tigers, who needed four runs to keep the game going. RCC put two runners on, but GWC managed to get three outs before the home team could send any runners home, securing the 5-1 result.

RCC is scheduled to close out the OEC series at Golden West. Game two is slated for Tuesday at 2 p.m., while the series finale is set to take place on Friday at 2 p.m.