Citrus stings SMC, adding to string of losses

As the palm-sized neon yellow softball connected with the bat of another Citrus College player, the ball zipped down the third base line, drilled Santa Monica College Corsair's third baseman Gabriela Robles on her left foot, and soared up in the air which gave shortstop, Chae Persinger, an opportunity to gather underneath the ball to make the catch. Even a little bit of luck on the side of the Corsairs wasn't able to help save them from losing the two games of another double header, on Tuesday.

Both games were finished early due to eight run deficits after five innings of play. In game one, the Corsairs lost 9-1 while in game two, the Corsairs were shutout, 8-0.

After the two losses at the hands of Citrus College, the SMC softball team's record fell to a total of 2-25, 16 of which have been consecutive.

In the first game of the day, the Corsairs fell behind to an early three-run lead in the top of the first inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the Corsairs registered their only run of the day when Corsairs' freshman leadoff hitter, Sumayah Muhammad, crossed home plate after a base hit by sophomore outfielder, Christine Padilla.

After Muhammad tallied the first run for SMC, the Corsairs couldn't find their way to another the whole day.

Citrus College cruised to a 9-1 victory in the first game even though the Citrus Owls failed at driving in numerous runners that were stranded on base in scoring position. Citrus College added two more wins to their impressive overall record of 22 -7.

In the Western State Blue Division, the softball teams for Citrus College and Santa Monica College, lie respectively first and last in the division standings. In divisional play, the Corsairs have yet to register a win in 12 games, while the Owls collected 11 wins in their 12 division games.

On the bright side, the Corsairs were able to hold a team to single digits runs for the first time in their last seven games.

SMC will host another home game on Thursday at John Adams Middle School. The Corsairs will take on the LA Valley College Monarchs for the third time this season.

Back on March 10, the Corsairs dropped both games of their double header against LA Valley losing the games 5-4 and 16-0.