Eagles Fend Off Owls

Citrus College woke up its bats but couldn't pull out the victory over LA Mission in its final home game of the season.

The Owls drop to 16-23 overall and 9-11 in Western State Conference action. The Eagles improve to 22-16 on the year, 11-9 in conference with their second win of the series.

Citrus more than doubled its hitting output from the series opener, finishing with eight in the game. Devon Diaz and Robert Moreno each finished 3-for-4 at the plate.

After the Eagles scored three runs in the second, the Owls broke through in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Diego Gonzales knocked a hard ball to second base and beat out the throw to spark the Owl offense. Matthew Espinoza followed with a double to left-center to put runners in scoring position. Diaz caught the Eagle left fielder too shallow and doubled over his head to send both runners in before LA Mission got out of the inning. 

LA Mission looked like it would strike again in its next chance at the plate, but Diaz hurled a throw from center to Gonzales at the plate, who dove to get the tag at the plate to keep it close. 

The Eagles broke through in the top of the ninth, however, scoring two runs to seal the 5-2 victory.

The Owls close out the year at LA Mission on Friday at 2:30 p.m.