Hancock Softball Battles, But Falls 11-6 at No. 15 Riverside

A five-run fourth inning gave the Allan Hancock College softball team a 6-4 lead over Riverside, but the No. 15 team in the state regained the lead for good with seven in the bottom of the frame to hand the Bulldogs an 11-6 road loss on Friday. Hancock opened its three-game, two-day road trip with its fifth straight loss and dropped to 8-15 overall. Riverside, also ranked No. 8 in the Southern California, moved to 20-12 on the season.

Hancock opened the scoring with one run in the second when Sabrina Ornelas drew a two-out walk with the bases loaded to drive in freshman Adiana Pacheco, who singled to left to lead off the inning. Riverside answered with one in the bottom half against Hancock starting pitcher Shaylyn Coy. Behind a two-run home run by Karter Williams and a run-scoring double by Breanna Ceballos, Riverside built a 4-1 lead after three.

The Bulldogs went to work in the fourth against Brianna Arroyo. Natalya Fuggs singled up the middle, stole second, and moved to third when Siana Castillo reached on an error. Crystal Gonzalez hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Fuggs to make a 4-2 game. Orenlas walked and Zaiden Bakke singled to load the bases and extend the inning. Mackenzie Caspian drove a single up the middle to drive in two runs to tie the game at 4-4. Coy followed with a base hit to single to drive in Bakke and give Hancock a 5-4 lead. With Pacheco at the plate, a passed ball allowed Caspian to race home to cap a five-run inning and give the Bulldogs a 6-4 advantage.

The Tigers roared back in the bottom of the fourth against Coy. A RBI-single, bases-loaded walk, three-run double, and two-run homer accounted for seven runs and an 11-6 Riverside lead.

Bakke and Caspian had two hits apiece for Hancock. Caspian had 2 RBI, while Gonzalez, Ornelas, and Coy each drove in one run. Ornelas went 1-for-2 with two walks. The Tigers outhit the Bulldogs 14 to nine. Jocelyn Ontiveros, Williams, and Dani Melendez had three hits each. Ontiveros drove in three runs for Riverside.

Coy took the loss after allowing 12 hits, 11 runs, nine of them earned, over 3 1/3 innings. She struck out four and walked one. Alexis Porter scattered two hits over 2 2/3 shutout innings in relief.

Hancock heads to Southwestern on Saturday for two games, starting with Southwestern (18-9) at 11 AM, then against Mt. San Antonio at 1 PM. Mt. SAC is 25-4 on the season and ranked No. 4 in the state and No. 2 in the South Region.