Fullerton College softball extended their losing streak to three games with a 9-0 loss at the hands of Antelope Valley College, yesterday at home.

It was the second time in three games that the Hornets have been shut out. The other game was a 4-1 loss. The team has been outscored 23-1 in their last three games.

“Haley [Shulman] pitched an incredible game for us today,” said Antelope Valley head coach Cindy Vargas . “We have been trying to get her to cut down on her walks and she did that today and got ahead of batters. She only walked two and that is her season low.”

“Their pitcher did an excellent job hitting her spots and not giving us a chance to get on base,” Mendoza added. “We are not a team that is really going to overwhelm anybody with power so if we aren’t getting girls on, we are in trouble.”

The Marauders jumped out to an early lead on the Hornets but it did not have much to do with the Hornets’ pitching.

“We had a few early errors that killed us,” said Hornet head coach Marian Mendoza. “Before we knew it, we looked up at the scoreboard and we were down 5-0 before we allowed an earned run.”

They did not help their cause on the base paths either. They were only down 6-0 in the bottom of the fifth and they got their first two batter on base.

However, after the second single, Alyssa Felipe got caught in a run down between second and third base. The next two batters then got out, and the little bit of momentum that they had gained was gone.

FC is already into conference play and they have gotten off to an 0-3 start.

“In order to win games, you need to pitch, hit and play defense,” Mendoza said. “We have not been doing any of those for the last few weeks. We will not be able to win if we don’t do those.”

Even though they have already lost to three conference opponents, the Hornets keep optimism going forward.

“We have lost a few games but we get to see those teams again,” Mendoza said. “We get to see all of those teams three times and from what I have seen we are capable of beating all of them.”

The Hornets (8-5, 0-3) will take on Saddleback, today, at 3 p.m. Saddleback is 8-5 and 1-2 in Orange Empire Conference play. A win for the Hornets would do a lot for their confidence and get them going in the right direction in the conference.

“That game is crucial for us,” Mendoza said. “We need to start doing things the right way and putting wins on the board. It is big for us to start doing so now before we get in a deep hole.”