Softball Beats Saddleback, Ties Grossmont During Opening Day of Mt. San Jacinto Tournament

The Allan Hancock College softball team opened a two-day tournament hosted by Mt. San Jacinto with a 7-7 tie with Grossmont and an 8-2 win over Saddleback on Friday. The Bulldogs moved to 7-1-1 on the year.

In the opener, Hancock scored twice in the bottom of the first against Grossmont as Crystal Gonzalez and Bailey Killough hit run-scoring singles. Grossmont took the lead with three runs in the third and one more in the fourth against Hancock pitcher Hannah Diaz. The Bulldogs rallied in the fourth as Nikole Cody singled in a run to make it a one-run game. The Bulldogs regained the lead in the fifth with a RBI-triple from Gennae Abatti and a RBI-double by Nakaila Fuggs to go up 5-4. A two-run single by Andrea Ortega in the sixth pushed it to a 7-4 Hancock advantage. Grossmont came all the way back to tie it with three runs in the top of the seventh. Hancock put two runners aboard in the bottom half with a chance to win, but could not get the walk-off hit, which resulted in the 7-7 tie.

Killough went 3-for-4 in the opener.

During the 8-2 win over Saddleback, Fuggs went 2-for-4 with four stolen bases, a triple and scored four times. Crystal Gonzalez, Mallory Townsend and Alyssa Gonzalez collected two hits apiece. Townsend and Gonzalez each drove in two runs.

Hancock scored four times in the first against Saddleback as Alyssa Gonzalez and Cody delivered RBI-singles. The Bulldogs tacked on two more in the second as Crystal Gonzalez singled in a run and Killough hit a sacrifice fly to left. A run-scoring single by Townsend in the fourth gave Hancock a 7-1 lead with Killough, the 2017 Western State Conference Pitcher of the Year, in the circle. Hancock pushed its eighth run across in the sixth when Crystal Gonzalez singled home Fuggs after the sophomore legged out a triple.

Hancock will face Antelope Valley at 9:30 a.m. and LA Mission at noon on Saturday on the tournament's final day.