Pirates sweep past Bakersfield to advance in regional playoffs

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team is partying like its 1992 all over again as the Pirates swept a doubleheader with Bakersfield College to advance to the second round of the Southern California Regional Playoffs on Saturday at the Pirate Softball Stadium.

In the opener, the Pirates -- trailing 1-0 in the best-of-three series after falling to the Renegades on Friday -- evened things up with a 6-0 win on Saturday ... the first postseason win for the Pirates in over three DECADES.

After struggling to find offense in the opener against BC pitcher Savannah Figueroa, the Pirates came out swinging right away and jumped out to a 5-0 lead. Isabel McElroy set the tone right away and led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run over the center-field fence, putting Coast up, 1-0. Reyna Hernandez, who scored OCC's lone run with a home run on Friday, smacked a 3-run blast to make it 4-0 and ending Figueroa's stint in the circle. McKenzie Koshi's RBI-single capped off Coast's nine-batter, five-run frame.

Angela Whitmer (14-5) went to work for Coast (27-13) and silenced the Renegades (26-15) for the entire game, allowing just five hits over seven innings with two walks and five strikeouts. 

An RBI-double by Lexia Martinez was the final tally for the Pirates in Saturday's DH opener, forcing a winner-take-all afternoon game to decide the series.

Another early crooked number on the scoreboard helped set the tone for the Pirates as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the top of the second (OCC lost the coin flip and was the "visiting team" for Game 3). Koshi gave Coast the lead with an RBI-single to right-center, scoring Melissa Hanson, who started the rally with a one-out single to right. McElroy drove in a pair of runs with a sharp single to center and Natalie Lowthers ripped a double to center, which scored McElroy and gave the Pirates command of things early on.

Hernandez again flexed her muscles, launching a solo home run to right in the top of the third to make it 5-0. 

Bakersfield picked up single runs in the third and fourth off of OCC starter Ruby Fidge to make it 5-2, but Coast got them both back in the top of the fifth. Kileah Lologo ripped a double to right-center and trotted home one batter later when Hernandez capped an unforgettable weekend with another home run -- her fourth of the series and the ninth of the season, putting the Pirates up 7-2. Over her last four games, Hernandez has done 5-for-13 with five home runs, four runs scored and 10 RBI.

Fidge (12-5) cruised from there and picked up the series-clinching win for Coast, allowing three runs (two earned) on eight hits with a walk and five strikeouts. 

McElroy went 3-for-4 in the nightcap with a run and two RBI, while Koshi and Martinez each added two hits and a run scored from the bottom of the order. 

Up next for the Pirates is a familiar foe ... Cypress College. The Pirates and Chargers have done battle three times this year, with the Chargers winning 2-of-3. Cypress beat OCC, 8-3 and 9-4 in the first two games before Coast avoided the sweep with a 2-1 win at Cypress on April 12.