Bobcats rally past Tigers

The Saddleback softball team picked up a big win on Thursday with a 10-6 win over Riverside City College on the softball diamond.  The Bobcats trailed 4-0 before rallying past the Tigers.

Saddleback struggled out of the gate, giving up four runs in the opening inning when RCC's Sarah Franco-Colis blasted a three-run homer to give the Tigers a 4-0 advantage.  The Bobcats wasted no time in answering back, scoring three of their own when Mia Calderon blasted a three-run homer of her own.  It was Calderon's fourth home run of the season and narrowed the deficit to 4-3.

Riverside led 5-3 heading into the bottom half of the fifth inning when the Saddleback bats came alive for a second time.  The Bobcats had three hits and two walks in the inning, and were also rewarded with three defensive miscues and a wild pitch from the Tigers.  In the end, Saddleback scored six times to turn a two run deficit into a five run advantage. 

The rally seemed to take the life out of Riverside, who went down quietly in the sixth inning before mounting a mini rally in the seventh.  The Tigers scored one time in the final at-bat, but came up short when Ivy Vasquez got Franco-Colis to ground out with a pair of runners on base to end the game.

Vasquez picked up the win on the mound after entering in the third inning with the Bobcats down 5-3 on the scoreboard.  She struck out two while allowing just one hit and three walks to improve to 2-0 on the season. 

Saddleback is now 13-12 overall and 3-8 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Bobcats have the weekend off before taking on San Diego Mesa College in a non-conference battle on Monday at 2:00 PM.