Baseball: Owls Pick Up First Win Over Condors

Glendora, CA - The Citrus College Baseball team picked up their first win of the early 2020 campaign on Tuesday afternoon 8-5. The Owls overcame three errors, got four solid innings of work from freshman Tommy Liu on the mound, and big day at the plate by sophomore Roberto Moreno to pick up the victory.

Sophomore Tyler Kretschmar scored the games first run, crossing home plate on a wild pitch in the bottom of the first. Oxnard would go on to tie the game up at a run a piece in the top of the second, and then jumped in front 3-1 with two more scores in the top of the third. 

In the bottom of the third, Citrus would pull back even. Sophomore Tristan Thomas would score an on error by the Condors. Three batters later, freshman Alejandro Loera would knot it up at three scores each with an RBI single through the left side of the field that plated sophomore Roberto Moreno.

In the fourth, Citrus would take the lead back for good, getting a two RBI single to right-center by Moreno that brought in Kretschmar and freshman Brett Bowers. Freshman catcher Jack Strickland would add too it with a single through the left side of the field that brought in Thomas yet again making it 6-3.

In the top of the fifth, the Condors would pull to within a pair after they completed a steal of home on a double swipe. The Owls promptly answered though thanks to an RBI single to left from freshman Andrew Duran that drove in freshman Haruki Kitazaki. Oxnard would try to get closer once again in the top of the sixth, but the Owls pulled back ahead by three two innings later when Moreno hit another single that the left fielder misplayed allowing Thomas to score his third run of the game and reach the final score of 8-5. 

Moreno would finish 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs and a run scored. Thomas was 1-for-3, but scored three times. Strickland was 2-for-4 with an RBI. On the bump, it was freshman Erick Olivares who earned the victory, finishing with a pair of strikeouts. It was Liu who really impressed though, pitching the final four frames, giving up just one hit, one walk, and one unearned run all while striking out five batters. 

With the win, Citrus improves to 1-2 on the season. The Owls will be back in action on Thursday when they travel to Whittier to take on Rio Hondo College. First pitch is set for 2:00 PM.