SANTA ANA – The Dons got their most hits of the season as they won for the ninth time in 10 games with a 12-7 victory over Saddleback College. The win, coupled with Cypress College's win over Orange Coast, keeps the Dons (13-9, 8-2) in a tie for first place in the Orange Empire Conference.
Saddleback (12-6, 7-3) had jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first inning on four hits with all four runs coming with two outs. Chandler Smith plated Jessica Angulo with a sacrifice fly for the first run before Kylee Lologo singled in Katelyn Gomez. Caelen Smith scored on a wild pitch and Lologo scored the fourth run on Ankica Gogich's single.
But Emily Whitecavage quickly got one run back when she hit the second pitch she saw for a solo home run in the first inning. Kori Cochran would cut the Gauchos lead in half when she scored on a Vanessa Moreno single to make the score 4-2.
The Dons would pull within one run in the third inning with Annie Dowling hitting a leadoff single before eventually coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by Ashley DeHuff. But the Gauchos would get two runs in the fourth to go up 6-3 Angulo singling in Gogich before scoring on Gomez's single.
Once again, the Dons would get back within one run at 6-5 in the bottom of the fourth with Whitecavage scoring when Dowling drew a bases loaded walk before Cochran scored when Tori Ferguson popped up. Saddleback would answer again with an unearned run in the top of the fifth when Smith scored on a bases loaded walk.
It was the fifth inning when the Dons offense would break out as they scored five runs on five hits. Whitecavage tripled in Marissa Moser and Paolena Comouche before scoring the go-ahead run on Cochran's RBI-single up the middle. Cochran would score on a sacrifice bunt by Ferguson before Dowling scored on a RBI-double by Moreno.
The Dons added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning with Moser scoring on a sacrifice fly by Katelyn Harvey before Whitecavage scored on a double steal.
Victoria Franks (13-7) got the win after allowing seven runs, six earned, on 10 hits with three strikeouts. Demerie Raymond (0-1) took the loss as she allowed nine runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings of relief.
