The Lady Hornets were hoping the holiday weekend would spell the end of their recently slide. However, Monday afternoon at Santiago Canyon finally arrived and the girls apparently needed at least one more day, as the Hawks handed Fullerton their third straight loss.
Starting pitcher Brigid Ruiz looked in control early, allowing just one hit in the first two innings.
However, the third inning spelled trouble for the Lady Hornets. The Hawks first three batters came up with three consecutive singles. The next batter, Ashley Clark-Johnson walked in the first run for the home team. Then, Alexa Guerra hit a ball to center field that scored another run.
Guerra’s torment of Ruiz and the Lady Hornets was just getting started.
Just a few minutes later in the bottom of the fourth, Guerra hit a towering home run to right-center, collecting three more RBI.
Fullerton got on the board in the fifth inning. After a single by center fielder Jillian Saiza, Miranda Hernandez doubled to left-center scoring Saiza. A couple batters later the Hornets took advantage of some poor defense by the Hawks. Hernandez and Felisha Gomez both came home on two consecutive overthrows within the same play.
The back to back errors by Santiago brought the score to 6-3. However, the Hawks matched the three-run inning by the Lady Hornets in the bottom half of the fifth, putting the game out of reach at 9-3.
Saiza, Gomez and the designated player Erin Molina all stood out for FC offensively with two hits a piece.
Ruiz had a rough day, going 5.2 innings, with eight earned runs and 13 hits allowed on the day.
On the other side of the field, the Hawks top three hitters in their lineup went a total of 6-12, with eight RBI and four runs scored.
Santiago starting pitcher Riley Nahrwold picked up the win (10-2), after going 4.2 innings and allowing just two earned runs.
The Lady Hornets (19-13, 8-8) will look to break their current losing streak at home on Friday at 2 p.m. against Riverside. The girls might be in luck, FC has won both games against RCC this season.
