Perez's grand slam propels Pirates past Bobcats

COSTA MESA -- One big swing from Nadia Perez was all that was needed to turn things around for the Orange Coast College softball team, who rallied for a 7-5 Orange Empire Conference win over visiting Saddleback on Friday at the OCC Softball Complex.

Trailing 5-2 heading into the bottom of the fifth inning, OCC (12-9 overall, 4-5 in the OEC) loaded the bases with nobody out, thanks to a pair of Bobcat errors (dropped fly ball in the outfield and a dropped ball on a tag attempt at second) and a single to right off the bat of Hailey Pichardo. 

Saddleback (6-13, 2-7) tried to move some players around and brought back in starting pitcher Katie Schmidt, who was greeted by Perez with a line-drive shot off of the Pirate scoreboard to put Coast up, 6-5. 

A solo shot off the bat of Amaya White in the bottom of the sixth gave OCC a bit of breathing room and Ashlee Kean shut things down the rest of the way. Kean pitched the final 5 1/3 innings to collect the win, allowing just one run on three hits over that span. Schmidt pitched effectively for the Bobcats, allowing just three earned runs over five innings, but the Perez slam was too much to overcome.

It was a pretty start to the game for the Pirates, who fell behind 4-0 in the top of the first, thanks to three hits and a pair of OCC errors.

The turning point of the game came in the top of the third. With Saddleback runners on first and second with nobody out, Kean had a pitch slip out of her hands and the ball rolled to home plate. Both runners tried to advance, but OCC catcher Gillian Gordon was alert and fired a strike to third, getting the lead runner into a rundown. Coast retired that runner, then managed to get the second runner in-between bases as well and just like that, the Pirates were out of trouble and with some life.

In the bottom of that inning, Emilie Lapena led off with a triple to right-center and scored on an RBI-single by White. After a single by Gianna Gozo, Pichardo singled home White to make it 4-2.

Saddleback extended its lead to 5-2 in the top of the fourth before OCC's late heroics took place in the bottom of the fifth. 

White went 3-for-4 with three runs and two RBI for OCC, while Gozo, Pichardo and Lapena each had two hits and a run scored. Perez's grand slam was her second home of the season and she finished the game with four RBI.

Coast will return to action on Monday at El Camino College, beginning at 3 p.m., followed by another road game on Wednesday, at Golden West (2 p.m.). OCC's next home game will take place on Friday against Santiago Canyon, beginning at 2 p.m.