Softball splits with Hawks

The Saddleback softball team split a double-header against Santiago Canyon College on Wednesday at the Saddleback softball diamond.  The two teams will play again on Friday.

Saddleback was coming off a tough week last week and wanted to respond quickly.  The softball team did just that, winning the opening game of the double-header with an 8-1 win advantage Santiago Canyon.  The Hawks returned the favor in game two, 9-3.

Saddleback took advantage of a number of miscues in the field from Santiago Canyon in the opening game.  The softball team scored four times in the opening inning and two more times in the second in opening up a 6-1 lead.   The big hits in the first were a double from Rachel Varela and a single from Emma Estep as Saddleback scored three unearned runs off the Hawks due to a pair of errors over the frst two innings.

Saddleback blew the game open in the fifth inning when they picked up two more runs for an 8-1 lead.  Annalie Benjamen and Mikayla Mattocks provided the spark with singles in the inning.

Veronica Belleza started on the mound and pitched a complete game in the win.  Belleza spread around four hits and struck out four Hawks in improving to 5-3 on the season.

Santiago Canyon switched pitchers in the second game and Saddleback had a rough time making an adjustment.  The softball team waited until the seventh inning to score three runs, but at that point it was too late as Santiago Canyon had already scored nine times.  Anne Thibert had three hits in the losing effort.

Saddleback and Santiago Canyon will play a double-header at SCC on Friday.  The first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM.