Dons Pull Away Late to Defeat Golden West College 7-3

Emily Whitecavage crosses home plate in the Dons 7-3 victory over Golden West. Whitecavage went 4-for-4 in the game with one run scored and one RBI.
Emily Whitecavage crosses home plate in the Dons 7-3 victory over Golden West. Whitecavage went 4-for-4 in the game with one run scored and one RBI.

SANTA ANA – The Dons completed the season sweep of Golden West College with a 7-3 win at home today. The win improves the Dons to 22-12 on the season and 14-4 in the Orange Empire Conference while Golden West falls to 6-29 overall and 2-16 in conference.

The Dons opened scoring with three unearned runs in the second inning with Vanessa Moreno and Tori Ferguson coming around to score on a RBI-single through the right side by Kirstin Gutierrez.  Emma Silvestri scored Gutierrez later in the inning with a sacrifice fly.

Emily Whitecavage plated the fourth run of the game in the fourth inning when she singled in Silvestri. Golden West then rallied for three runs in the top of the fifth inning to cut the Dons lead to just one at 4-3.

Amber Hollowood singled up the middle before an error allowed Sammy Abrahamson and Randi Fehser to score on the play. Hollowood came around to score the third run of the inning when Alexis Vincent reached on an error.

But the Dons would answer with runs in the next two innings to pull away late. Ferguson scored Katelyn Harvey with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning before a pair of runs came across in the sixth inning. Briana Acuna, who was running for Christina McCullogh, scored when Whitecavage reached on a bunt single before Whitecavage scored on a sacrifice fly by Harvey.

Victoria Franks (22-10) got the win as she held the Rustlers to three runs, one earned, on four hits over seven innings. Franks also rang up eight strikeouts, including three straight in the second inning when she threw just nine pitches, all strikes. Kiley Eskridge (3-17) took the loss for Golden West as she allowed four runs, one earned, on five hits over four innings.