Softball

Mounties Win South Coast Conference Behind Four Home Runs in 17-5 Victory Over Pasadena City College

Final	1	2	3	4	5	R	H	E
Pasadena City (24-12, 8-3)	0	0	4	0	1	5	8	5
Mt. SAC (32-3, 11-0)	5	6	1	5	X	17	14	2

Posted: Apr 20, 2017

By John M. Sherrard

(Walnut, CA) With the regular season winding down, the Mt. SAC Softball teams' bats are on fire and scoring runs in bunches in the last two games. The latest was a 17-5 win over Pasadena City College Thursday afternoon to capture back-to-back South Coast Conference North championships.

With 18 hits in Tuesday's win over Rio Hondo and another 14 against PCC, the Mounties improved to 32-3 overall and a perfect 11-0 in conference.

"It was a complete total win," Mt. SAC Softball coach Ruby Rojas said. "These games are preparing us for the playoffs, as Pasadena is a playoff contender."

Five players collected two hits apiece, including four round-trippers. The highlight came off the bat of sophomore first baseman Toni Mendoza (2 for 2, 2 runs, 5 RBIs) with a grand slam in the six-run second inning.

Sophomore pitcher Racqual Espinoza improved to 13-1 and struck out seven in the game. After PCC scored four runs in the third inning, Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings relieved Espinoza for the final two outs (Ks) in the inning after a single and a sacrifice fly. Espinoza finished the final two innings, retiring six of the nine batters, including three strikeouts.

Also hitting home runs for the Mounties was Krystall Padilla, Taylor Jaurique (2-run HR) and Kayla Sok (3-run HR).

"We came out ready to play (Thursday)" said Sok (2-3, 3 runs, dbl., 3 RBIs) of the fast 11-0 start in the first two innings. "We went out there with the goal to just have fun."

Also with two hits was sophomore second baseman Mandy Larios (2-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs), sophomore center fielder Bree Maikai (2-3, run) and Espinoza (2-2, 2 dbls., 3 RBIs).

In the five-run first, leadoff hitter Sok started it off with a single, followed by the next five batters, with the first five scoring.

"Once one person gets a hit, we all feed off of that energy," Sok said.

The Mounties scored another five runs in the fourth inning on a double by Espinoza, Soks' three-run home run and Padilla's solo shot to left field.

The Mounties host Glendale College today in a non-conference game and travel to Chaffey College on Tuesday and a final regular season home game on Wednesday against College of the Canyons.

Follow Mt. SAC Softball on twitter @mtsac_softball

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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.