
By John M. Sherrard
That it did, but unfortunately the Mounties fell twice to the second-ranked Chargers, 6-3, 3-2, Saturday afternoon.
Mt. SAC sophomore catcher Taylor Jaurique led the Mounties going 4 for 7 in the twin bill.
The Mounties (22-3) fell behind, 5-0, in the opening game and could never recover as they managed just five hits.
In the fourth inning sophomore first baseman Toni Mendoza (1-3, RBI) reached on an error, advancing Jaurique to third, who came home on another Charger error, to trail, 5-1.
After Cypress added another run in the bottom half of the inning to lead, 6-1, Mt. SAC rallied for two runs in the seventh.
Mendoza singled to center, scoring sophomore left fielder Aleyah Wilbon (1-3, run) and sophomore center fielder Bree Maikai (1-2, RBI) hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Jaurique to trail, 6-3.
Sophomore pitcher Racqual Espinoza (9-1) suffered her first loss of the season for the Mounties.
In the second game the Mountie bats came alive with 11 hits and sophomore pitcher Tiffany Kennedy-Cummings (8-1) limited Cypress to only three hits and five strikeouts.
However, with the score tied in the seventh, the Chargers knocked in a walk-off sacrifice fly to come away with the two-game sweep.
Trailing, 2-0, Mt. SAC scored two runs in the second inning on back-to-back RBI singles by sophomore second baseman Mandy Larios (2-4, RBI), and Wilbon (2-4, RBI), scoring sophomore right fielder Mariah Zaragosa (1-2, run) and sophomore third baseman Kristen Williams (1-2, run), respectively.
Mt. SAC, even with the loss, has the second-best record in the state.
Jaurique (2-4) and freshman designated player Jackie Olvera (2-3) each had two hits for the Mounties.
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For additional information, please contact the Mt. SAC Sports Information Office at 909.274.4630.