Hancock Softball Hosts Home Opener on Friday against Riverside, No. 10 Ranked Team in CA

The softball team opens the home portion of its 2015 schedule this week. The reigning Western State Conference champions host Riverside at noon on Friday, before battling East Los Angeles on Saturday at 1 p.m. Cuesta will play Riverside at 2 p.m. on Friday and East LA at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Hancock, the 10^th ranked team in the Southern California Regional Coaches Poll, split its two games at the College of the Desert Tournament last week. The Bulldogs lost 5-4 in eight innings to Fullerton, before blanking Santa Ana, the eighth ranked team in SoCal 7-0 behind a five-hit shutout from sophomore Katie Chenault.  The Cal State Northridge commit struck out nine. Michaela Valencia hit a home run, drove in two and stole three bases. Freshman catcher Teanna Silveira, a Righetti High School graduate, added two hits, while Judith Salazar added a double and three RBI. In the extra inning loss to Fullerton, Chenault struck out 11 and allowed five hits and five walks. Hancock committed three errors in the loss that led to three unearned runs, including the game-winning score in the bottom of the eighth. Jessica Rothanzl had two hits and drove in two for the Bulldogs.

Riverside is 1-0 and ranked No. 10 in the state and No.5 in the SoCal Regional. Riverside defeated East LA over the weekend 13-10. Malia Cambell had two hits and three RBI, while Michelle Paul drove in three runs for Riverside.