Pirates fall in extras to Bulldogs, 3-2

SARATOGA -- A well-pitched game just didn't fall the way of the Orange Coast College softball team on Friday morning as the Pirates fell to College of San Mateo, 3-2, in eight innings in the second round of the 3C2A Softball State Championships, hosted by West Valley College.

The loss sends the top-seeded Pirates (33-8) into must-win time as they will take on the winner between El Camino and Cypress later tonight at 8 p.m. Coast will have to win five straight games over the next three days to earn the school's first-ever softball state championship.

OCC sophomore pitcher Ruby Fidge pitched well enough to win on Friday against a Bulldog program that entered Friday's game with a .360 team batting average, third-best in the state.

Fidge (6-5) took the hard-luck loss, allowing three runs on nine hits over 7 1/3 innings. For the Bulldogs (41-3), they were led by their standout thrower, Nohemi Livingston, who went the distance and allowed two runs on nine hits with two walks and six strikeouts, improving her record to 26-3. The nine hits OCC picked up on Livingston were the third-most she had given up all season, but the Pirate offense came up just short, leaving eight runners on base.

After falling behind in the bottom of the third, Coast evened the score in the top of the fourth when a one-out double was followed by an RBI-single by Reyna Hernandez, tying the game at 1.

CSM regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when the Bulldogs used three straight two-out singles to bring home their second run of the game to grab a 2-1 advantage.

But the Pirates, down to their final out, used some more late-game magic when Olivia Pedraza singled to keep OCC alive. Kelsey McNair stepped up and lined a double-down the left-field line, which scored Pedraza and evened the score at 2 and sent the game into extra innings. McNair went 3-for-4 with an RBI.

But after a 1-2-3 top of the eighth for the Pirates, San Mateo got things going against Fidge. A leadoff walk and sacrifice bunt put the winning run in scoring position. Pinch-hitter Nia Mapa blooped a check-swing single to right, moving the baserunner to third and ending Fidge's gritty performance in the circle.

McNair came in relief and hit the first batter she faced to load the bases before Emma Kinder's single to left brought home the winning run.

Isabel Lopez went 2-for-4 with a run scored and Jasmyn Morales reached base three times with a hit and a pair of walks for the Pirates.