Over the weekend, the fifth-ranked Cosumnes River College softball team wrapped up a long road trip with a 3-1 record. The Hawks swept host Reedley College on Thursday 7-2 and 7-1. In Fresno, CRC opened Saturday with an extra inning victory over Fresno City College, 2-1, before falling to College of San Mateo 5-0.
"We had a great trip down to Fresno," said head coach Kristy Schroeder. "Our pitchers threw well. I thought we played really well with the exception of some defensive mistakes in the last game. We had some really timely hitting and are looking to capitalize on that as we head into conference play."
Offense carried the Hawks at Reedley. In game one, Abagail Woodfill led the way with a home run and a double to finish 2-3 with two RBI. Brooke Hanson was also 2-4 with a double. Layla Towner also knocked in two runs with a pinch hit in the fourth inning. Tatiana Blas won her seventh game of the year striking out 4 in a complete-game effort. CRC kept pounding the Tiger pitching in game two. Six different Hawks had hits led by Towner and Woodfill who once again had two RBI apiece. AJ Dahdouh kept Reedley in check giving up no earned runs in the circle to push her record to 5-2 on the year.
In a day full of top-10 battles, CRC prevailed in a tight opener over eighth-ranked Fresno. The game was scoreless until the sixth when Emily Johnson's third homer of the season put the Hawks in front. Fresno responded in the bottom of the sixth with a homer of their own. While neither team could score in the 7th, CRC took advantage of the tiebreaker to take a one run lead. Johnson's sacrifice bunt moved runner Avery Jolley to third. Then Abigail Woodfill's sacrifice fly pushed Jolley across for the score. Blas shut down the Rams in the bottom of the eighth to remain undefeated on the year. In a matchup with top-ranked San Mateo, the Hawks could not get going offensively. CRC managed only five hits, two by Woodfill. Dahdouh held the Bulldogs in check, giving up only two earned runs. However, four Hawk errors led to another three runs ending the Hawks' weekend with a loss.
CRC returns to the diamond on Tuesday at 5:00 pm when they open Big 8 conference play against Delta College at the University of the Pacific.