Warriors Stumble Late in Loss to Rio Hondo

TORRANCE, Calif. --- El Camino College nursed a two-run lead late but could not hold on in a 5-3 South Coast Conference loss to visiting Rio Hondo on Tuesday afternoon at the ECC Softball Field.

The Warriors (11-8, 5-5) held a 3-1 lead going into the seventh inning but the Roadrunners (10-7, 4-6) stormed back with three runs in the final frame to secure the victory.

Clarissa Lockett suffered the loss in the circle for the Warriors despite pitching a complete game. She surrendered five runs, four earned, on seven hits. She walked three, struck out four and hit two batters. Prior to the seventh, she had allowed just one unearned run on three hits.

In the seventh, the Roadrunners led off with a single and a hit batter to put pressure on the Warriors. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners over, Kaylie Cervantes came through with a single to center field to score both runs and tie the game.

The Roadrunners would keep applying the heat with a single and a walk to load the bases but Lockett struck out opposing pitcher Lourdes Soria for the second out and was on the verge of getting out of the frame giving up just the two runs.

But Alexis Rivera hit a high chopper back to the circle that Lockett was unable to snag as it hit her glove. The ball continued toward the second base bag with shortstop Kayla Inzunza charging but she could not field the difficult hop cleanly, allowing two runs to score.

In the bottom of the seventh, Genise Chavez and Inzunza hit the ball hard off Soria but Cervantes ran down each line drive in center field to keep the Warriors off the bases. Leesa Parral then grounded out to short to end the game.

Soria picked up the win for the Roadrunners, tossing a complete game. She allowed three unearned runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out two.

The Warriors got a two-hit effort from Jamelah Lewis including a double and Alyssa Lujan added a two-run single. Leah Madden, Lujan and Skylar Sanchez each stole a base as well for ECC.

The Warriors will return to action on Thursday with a tough home test against Mount San Antonio, the top team in the conference. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.