Pirates strike late, but come up short against Warriors
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
El Camino | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 |
|
Orange Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team couldn't find the big hit when needed and fell to visiting El Camino, 5-1, on Thursday at the OCC Softball Complex.
The bats were sluggish for the Pirates (1-3) against the undefeated Warriors (6-0) as ECC starter Kat Gutierrez went the distance, allowing only one run on three hits with three strikeouts.
Coast had a chance to score early in the bottom of the first, when Emilie Lapena walked and went to third on a dropped fly ball off the bat of Ariana Williams. But, with second and third with nobody out, Gutierrez coaxed a pop up, a strikeout and a fly out to end the threat and kept the Pirates off the scoreboard.
It wasn't until the sixth inning before the Pirates collected hit No. 1, which came courtesy of shortstop Natalie Lowthers.
The OCC pitchers kept the game close before a two-run home run from Skylar Sanchez extended ECC's three-run lead to five.
Melissa Hanson lined a double to left-center in the bottom of the seventh for the Pirates and scored on an RBI-single off the bat of Natasha Ellison.
Coast returns to action on Monday at home against L.A. Harbor, beginning at 2:30 p.m.
