Pirates flex muscles in 12-4 win over Rustlers

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team put on their hitting shoes on Monday and rolled to a 12-4, six-inning win over visiting Golden West on Monday at the OCC Softball Complex.

The Pirates (16-16, 8-9 in the Orange Empire Conference) pounded out 14 hits and slugged a pair of home runs to blow past the struggling Rustlers (8-17, 2-15). 

Lindsey Manhart pitched three effective innings of relief to pick up the win and she helped her own cause with a three-run home run and two runs scored at the plate. Nadia Perez added two hits, a run and three RBI, while Emilie Lapena added three hits, three runs and an RBI. Hailey Pichardo also came through with three hits with a run and two RBI for OCC as well.

Lali Rios went 2-for-2 with a two-run home run and four RBI for the Rustlers.

With the Pirates up 4-2, Manhart's three-run home run pushed Coast's lead to 7-2 in the bottom of the third. Rios' two-run homer in the top of the sixth to make it 7-4 but OCC ended the game in the sixth with a bases-clearing hit off the bat of Pichardo and a two-run home run from Taylor Andolsek, which ended the game by way of the eight run-rule. 

As far as the OEC standings go, Santa Ana College did not do the Pirates any favors as the first-place Dons were upset by Fullerton College, 4-3, keeping the fourth-place Hornets two games ahead of the fifth-place Pirates.

Coast will play at Santiago Canyon College on Wednesday (3 p.m.) before returning to OCC to host Fullerton on Friday (2 p.m.).