Softball Keeps Playoff Hopes Alive with Two-Game Sweep at Cuesta

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - The Allan Hancock College softball team pulled off a must-win sweep in a doubleheader on the road against Cuesta College on Tuesday afternoon to keep the door open for a playoff opportunity. AHC moves to 16-9 overall and is 8-3 against league foes while the Cougars fall to 22-16 (9-5 WSC) on the season. 

The Bulldogs, who entered the day trailing Cuesta by 1.5 games, have now moved into second place in the Western State Conference (North) standings and flipped the standings to hold a 1.5-game advantage over the Cougars. Hancock still has four conference games, including a pair of contests against the league-leading Ventura squad, along with six non-conference contests remaining on the regular season slate. Cuesta has just one WSC matchup left on the docket.

Lisette Coria led the visiting crew at the plate with a .571 batting average after going 4-for-7 on the day while being walked three times and successfully completing two stolen base attempts. Mya Mendoza also had a day after registering six RBIs on one single, one double, and one shot over the fence en route to a .500 batting average. 

Softball is scheduled to return to action on Saturday, April 15th, with a pair of non-conference road tests at Southwestern College. They will face the hosting Jaguars at 11 AM before squaring off against Bakersfield College for a neutral contest at 1 PM. 

GAME ONE: AHC 9, CUESTA 7 | BOX SCORE

Hancock jumped ahead early with a double by Delayna Quezada that plated two in the opening frame, but the hosting Cougars evened the odds with a two-run inning of their own in the third. Danica Black scored the go-ahead run in the fourth and sparked a five-run streak after capitalizing on an error by Cuesta. Mendoza used a double to drive in two runs while Xchelle Glidewell and Black both registered RBI singles before the inning came to a close. 

The Cougars mounted a comeback attempt with a one-run shot over the fence in the fifth and two tallies in the sixth, but Kira Kase answered by plating two insurance runs on an RBI in the seventh. Cuesta scored two additional runs in the bottom of the frame but fell short on the come-from-behind attempt by stranding a runner at first and second as the game ended. 

Briana Munoz earned both the start and the win after a complete game showing in the circle. The sophomore pitcher struck out six batters and surrendered four earned runs after scattering 12 hits.  

GAME TWO: AHC 11, CUESTA 5 | BOX SCORE

Madison Gamble put the visiting crew on the board with a two-run single in the third, but the Cougars quickly bounced back with a three-run effort in the bottom of the fourth to take the lead. Bats were quiet for both sides across the next two frames before Hancock's offense caught fire by rattling off an eight-run rally in the sixth inning. Glidewell and Black sparked the scoring frenzy, both plating one runner, before Coria earned an RBI on a bases-loaded walk. Mendoza followed up on the next at-bat by clearing the bases with a momentum-stealing grand slam. Cuesta squeaked two runners across the plate in the bottom of the sixth before Abigail Salazar drove the final run of the day home with an RBI single in the top of the seventh. 

Munoz picked up her second win of the day, and ninth of the season, in the nightcap after another seven innings of work.