On Thursday, April 11, Mt. SAC softball dominated the LA Harbor Seahawks to assume sole control of second place in the South Coast Conference securing a 12–4 victory in five innings.

The game was delayed 25 minutes due to an umpire running late. Both teams waited in their dugouts the entire time after warm ups to stay out of the sun.

In the top of the first inning, the Seahawks couldn’t get the ball rolling with them unable to get any hits and one left on base after getting hit by a pitch. The game delay seemed to have no effect on Mt. SAC as freshman third baseman Katie Griego (6) hit a lead off home run and put SAC in the lead from the get-go.

According to Griego (6), she wasn’t looking for a home run but she was happy to help her team out early in the game. “Being able to hit a home run was cool, but it was on accident,” she said.

Mt. SAC continued to show their strength in the bottom of the first after sophomore shortstop Janis Espinoza (19) hit a single and advanced to third on an error from the Seahawks’ catcher. Espinoza (19) scored on the next play when sophomore pitcher Alyssa Rubalcava (14) drove her in with a sacrifice fly ball to right field.

SAC scored three more runs in the bottom of the first.

Freshman first baseman Mercedes Alba (20) and catcher Morgan Kneubuhler (9) both singled and eventually crossed home plate after sophomore second baseman Amanda Esquivel (24) hit a double to left field.

Sophomore center fielder Rianna De La Barcena (8) scored after singling to left field and scored on a fly ball to right field by third baseman Gabrielle Flores (4).

SAC finished the first inning with five runs and six hits giving the starting pitcher a comfortable 5–0 lead from the start.

Mt. SAC showed its strong defense, securing two fly balls to center field and a nice pick by Alba (20) at first base to cap off the first half of the inning.

SAC was unable to get any runs in this inning, but Espinoza (19) would give SAC a chance to drive in another after bunting for a single, stealing second and advancing to third after Rubalcava (14) hit a fly ball to center field.

The Seahawks tried to make a comeback in the top of the third by scoring three runs on four hits, but Mt. SAC answered back, doubling the Seahawks offensive output with six runs on five hits.

Three of the runs scored by Mt. SAC came as a result of Espinoza (19) hitting SAC’s second home run of the game. Griego (6), who hit the first home run and freshman first baseman Audrey White (11) scored on the three run shot. Kneubuhler (9), Esquivel (24) and Flores (4) were the other three players who scored in the third inning for SAC.

The top of the fourth inning was another showcase of Mt. SAC’s defense.

LA Harbor got zero runs on hits. SAC finished the bottom of the fourth inning with two hits by freshman shortstop Sofia Femath (42) and White (11) who each singled to center field but did not take advantage of the hits.

The Seahawks were unable to mount a comeback during the fifth inning scoring one run from freshman catcher Evelyn Iniguez (9) on a solo home run.

Mt. SAC secured the win by scoring another run on two hits from Rubalcava (14) who singled and scored after Alba (20) doubled down the infield line, forcing the umpire to call the game complete via the “mercy rule.”

According to Espinoza (19), the team has a lot of love for one another which contributes a lot to their success.

“We knew we had each other, so that was probably our biggest strength,” Espinoza said.

The next home games are against Long Beach on April 18.