Pitcher Kristen Voller threw her second complete game in a row in two days with two wins to advance the Cerritos softball team past the Citrus Owls by a score of 9-1.
Voller threw six innings allowing five hits and no earned runs while striking out five to earn her 15 win of the season less than one day after pitching five innings and allowing two earned runs.
Head coach Kodee Murray said, “Kristen Voller did an absolute fantastic job with everything she did [today], she knew she had to get through the game today, she slowed down and mixed some pitches and was able to get through all six innings.”
Cerritos was down one player who was not able to make it to the game so the team was playing with with only nine players.
The Falcons stumbled in the beginning of the game surrendering a run to the Owls in the top of the second falling behind for the first time in the series.
Voller said, “Anytime a team comes out and score before you there is always that pressure.”
In the bottom of the third Cerritos exploded when catcher Briana Lopez and shortstop Kylee Brown hit back-to-back home runs.
Lopez hit a two-run homer that drove in outfielder Kimberly Olivas and Brown followed with a home run of her own. Later in the inning second basemen Emma Wolff singled and drove in the fourth run of the inning.
Two innings later Wolff would earn her second RBI of the game with a single to left field that drove in first basemen Rain Vega.
In the top of the sixth Voller allowed two hits but no runs to keep the 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the inning.
Olivas led off the inning with her first home run of the season to left field.
Lopez followed Olivas and hit her second home run of the game making it the second time the Falcons hit back-to-back home runs.
With a 7-1 lead Brown singled to reach first base leaving third baseman Carly Gutierrez up to bat.
Gutierrez hit the fifth home run of the evening and the third of the inning to give Cerritos the walk off win against the Owls.
Coach Murray described the final inning as awesome saying that it seems like whenever the lead-off hitter Olivas gets a hit it sparks a rally.
As a whole Cerritos amassed 13 hits to Citrus’ four.
Voller said, “We just tried to take it one inning and one pitch at a time and today we got the results.”
The win advances the Falcons to the Super Regional stage of the playoffs. Cerritos will now have to face Mt. San Antonio College Friday, May 12.
This season the Falcons have lost both matchups with the Mounties.
Going into the next round Murray isn’t worried about the team and what will happen.
“It doesn’t matter, ” she said. “We’ll take it one game at a time and go to Mt. SAC next week and see how that goes, but I do know one thing, that the team will give everything it has.”
