Citrus Takes Down Bakersfield

Citrus College battled from behind to grab an 11-4 victory over Bakersfield College Saturday afternoon.

The Owls improve to 9-27 on the year and 5-13 in Western State Conference action, while the Renegades drop to 15-22 overall and 8-10 in conference.

Bakersfield struck first with two runs in the top of the first, but Citrus responded and took control of the game in the second, scoring four runs in a two-out rally. Jin Hattori (2-for-4) came up big for the Owls with a three-RBI double down the left-field line before Chad Green's (2-for-3) base hit through the gap on the right side sent Hattori home to put Citrus up 4-2.

The Renegades took back a run in the fifth, but the Owls weren't done yet.

In the bottom of the seventh, Devon Diaz (1-for-3) took advantage of a Bakersfield mishap before Jared Gener (1-for-2) drilled a three-run home run in the eighth to spark a six-run inning. Hattori hit a sacrifice fly to send another runner home before a Renegade error plated another run. Diaz capped the scoring off a sacrifice from Green before the visitors could get out of the inning.

Bakersfield scored once more in the ninth, but Joseph Jimenez shut down any comeback attempt to preserve the save. Aiden Ross picked up the win on the mound, striking out four Renegades and allowing just one earned run.

Citrus closes out the season next week with a three-game series against the College of the Canyons. The Owls are on the road first on Tuesday before hosting the Cougars on Thursday.