Hancock Softball Splits Doubleheader at Cuesta

St. Joseph High School graduate Emily Gantt, and Righetti High School graduates Judith Salazar and Maggie Dasis each delivered run-scoring hits to spark a five-run sixth inning to help the Allan Hancock College softball team split a doubleheader at Cuesta College on Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs won the opener 5-0, before they dropped the second game 4-0. Hancock left Cuesta 3-5 in Western State Conference action and 12-14-1 overall. The Cougars finished the day 5-2 in conference and 16-7 overall.

In the opener, the game was scoreless until the sixth. Salazar hit a RBI-single to drive in Larrissa Ostrander with the first run of the game. Gantt, a freshman catcher, followed with a two-run double to make it 3-0. Third baseman Ashley Ruiz walked and scored on a two-run base hit off the bat of Dasis, a Righetti High School graduate, to cap a five-run outburst. 

Ostrander and Salazar had two hits apiece for the Bulldogs. Pitcher Shannon Peterson added a hit. She earned the win with a four-hit shutout. The freshman struck out nine Cougars and did not issue one walk.

The Cougars turned four Hancock errors into four unearned runs in the second game. First baseman Micalah Herrigel, a Lompoc High School graduate, had the only two Hancock hits in the 4-0 loss. Peterson took the loss in the circle. She allowed eight hits and four unearned runs in six innings. She walked one and struck out one.

Hancock returns to action Thursday at Oxnard in a conference game at 2:30 p.m. The Bulldogs will also play two games Saturday, April 1, at a tournament hosted by Ventura College. Hancock will play Citrus at 11 a.m. and Rio Hondo at 3 p.m.