Riverside City College softball head coach Michelle Daddona and left fielder Bobbi Arce on the third baseline at the Riverside City College Evans Sports Complex on April 16. Photo by Ayden Vasquez.
By: Aliah Tubbs
The Tigers softball team fell to the Fullerton College Hornets 11-1, extending the team’s losing streak to four games at the Riverside City College Evans Sports Complex on April 16.
The Tigers found issues early on defense as they kept giving the Hornets a few hits and not as many strikes or outs, as well as allowing runs early on in the game.
“We’re gonna have to make sure that we improve our defense,” head coach Michelle Daddona said. “I feel like we were caught off guard a few times and we didn’t execute after we practiced those situations.”
In the top of the 2nd, the Hornets made two more hits which put them on the board once again with a score of 3-0.
The offense also had issues through the day as they weren’t getting any consistency with the bats.
The Hornets continued to score on the Tiger defense as they added 3 more runs to the board in the top of the 5th inning putting the score at 6-0. The Tigers were having trouble talking to each other as they were letting the Hornets pass them by.
“I think a lot of communication is what we struggle with,” sophomore pitcher Chloe Lockhart said. “Just talking, where we need to go, places that we need to know.”
The Tigers were weak in their defensive and offensive side today, continuously making the same mistakes which kept them from being in the game.
“We just didn’t come out ready to go,” Daddona said. “We got caught on our heels, and they were ready to get a lead early.”
The Tigers scored their first run at the bottom of the 5th with sophomore third baseman Summer Sanders hitting an RBI Single which scored freshman catcher Guadalupe Lemus to get them on the board with a score of 6-1.
“It felt pretty good to at least get some runs in,” Lemus said. “But it ended up just being one.”
Throughout the last 2 innings, the Hornets added 5 more runs to the board, taking on a bigger lead of 1-11 against the Tigers, silencing any hope for a comeback.
“We had plenty of hits that should have been more than one run,” Daddona said. “We made base running mistakes that cost us runs.”
