Bakersfield College’s softball team lost its first two games then won the next two in a tournament last weekend at Fullerton College.
Before the tournament on Feb. 9, BC pitcher Jennifer Sisco pitched a no-hitter in an 8-0 victory over East Los Angeles.
BC had 10 hits, and only a hit batter kept Sisco from a perfect game. Including that game and the Fullerton tournament, the Renegades played five games with four taking place in 26 hours.
“I was very pleased. We were tired and sore,” said coach Sandi Taylor after BC won its last game on Sunday.
In the first two games on Saturday, BC’s Nicole Lancaster went 4 for 6, but the Renegades lost the first game to Antelope Valley 6-2 then lost to Saddleback 3-1.
In Sunday’s games, the Renegades wasted no time scoring first in the first inning in game one against Golden West.
BC added one more run in the second inning and held Golden West to no runs and four hits. The win game pitcher Kori Marko (1-3) her first victory of the season.
In game four of the tournament against Cerritos College, the Renegades, who lost their season opener to Cerritos 2-1 in 12 innings, were able to pull off a 2-0 victory as Sisco (3-1) continues to show herself as one of team’s strongest pitchers.
Nichole Lancaster leads the team’s offense with a .379 batting average followed by Sisco’s .333 and Ashleigh Pryor with a batting average of .304
The BC softball team travels to Moorpark for a Thursday game.
Baseball
Bakersfield College won four games to capture the title in the Light Brigade Tournament last weekend at Gerry Collis Field.
“Our pitching has been pretty stable for the first 12 games,” said coach Tim Painton. “This weekend, our offense started coming around, and as a result we had a four and zero record.”
In the first game on Feb. 10, the Renegades defeated Moorpark 7-6. In game two, the Renegades jumped on San Diego Mesa for 15 hits to win 8-6.
San Diego Mesa scored first, taking a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Renegades came back with two runs in the second inning to tie the score, then scored four more in the third.
In the third game, also against San Diego Mesa, the Renegades won 6-2.
In the championship game, BC and Oxnard were tied 5-5 before BC scored four runs to win 9-6.
The Renegades had dropped to 2-5 on the season before beating Reedley 9-2 on Feb. 7, then BC won the tournament for a five-game winning streak.
Golf
BC’s men’s team will travel to Whittier to meet Rio Hondo College.
BC returns sophomores Scott LaBare, Kyle Neal, Justin Pitts and Make Yates.
Joining the team this year will be freshmen Chris Baden, Jarrett Cosyns, Tony Denesha, Nathan Hamblen, Chris McCracken, Andy Pelle and Nick Vallejo.
Men’s track and field
Bakersfield College won the Western Conference mini-meet last Friday at BC. The men were led by Evan Wahl with first-place finishes in the javelin, hammer throw and discus events.
Josh Hamilton also came in with strong with victories in the 1,500 and 3,000-meter races.
“It was an early meet, and we had a strong showing overall,” said assistant coach John Chapman after the meet at Memorial Stadium.
The men’s team travels to Citrus College on Friday.
Women’s track and field
BC won the Western Conference mini-meet, led by Brittany Grimes winning the 3,000-meter race and coming in third in the 1,500.
Jessica Chvala was also very strong for the Renegades, winning the javelin and finishing second in the hammer throw.
Shauna Roundtree, a last minute find for the Renegades, according to assistant coach Chapman, finished second in the 800, 1,500 and 3,000-meter races.
The Renegades travel to Citrus College this Friday.
Men’s tennis
BC finished second with 22 points to Chabot, which had 23, in a tournament last weekend in Modesto.
Sophomore Bryan Branch led the Renegades with a victory in the third-flight singles division. In the doubles title, Branch teamed up with freshman Matt Greer and took the title for the second flight.
“We are a better team than we were last year,” Branch said. “We have more solid players and our top three players from last year are returning.”
No. 2 singles Ryan Shultz, a sophomore, fell just short of the title by losing in the finals, and then teamed up with Jason Broussard to finish second in the first flight doubles division.
In the sixth flight singles division, Josh Halpin made it all the way to finals before losing.
BC will play Fresno City College at 2 p.m. Thursday at BC.
Women’s tennis
The Renegades overpowered Fresno City College in the season opener, winning seven of the nine flights. With No.1 returnee Sara Ramirez, 22-4 last year, out for the match, the only two losses were at No. 1 singles and doubles.
In No. 1 singles, Jamie Mitchell of BC lost the flight to Lisa Arnold of Fresno City 6-3, 6-1 while in No. 2 singles Christina Audelo of BC easily beat Danielle Raley 6-3, 6-1.
From that point, No. 3 Laura Houser, No. 4 Amy Cowan, No. 5 Tiffany Gragg and No. 6 Elizabeth Carnal all defeated their Fresno City opponents easily.
In doubles action, BC’s Houser and Cowan lost to FCC’s Arnold and Sheperd 5-7, 7-6, 7-6.
BC’s No. 2 doubles, Jamie Mitchell and Tiffany Gragg, easily defeated FCC’s Danielle Raley and Vici Laird 6-0, 6-3. In the No. 3 doubles, Christina Audelo and Elizabeth Carnal defeated FCC 6-3, 6-1.
The Renegades will travel to College of the Sequoias in Visalia this Thursday.