The Bakersfield College women’s softball team began Western State Conference play March 11 with back-to-back games against Citrus College. The Renegades won their first game 10-9 with a strong pitching performance from Amanda Bundy.
“She ended up coming out with one out in the seventh. She kind of took a ball to the shin, so we wanted to pull her just to give her some rest,” said co-head coach Ryane Peterson about Bundy.
The Renegades found themselves down 9-8 going into the bottom of the seventh inning before winning the game by a final score of 10-9. Brooke Quiddam finished the game for the Renegades striking out the final two batters.
“I was really proud of the way they played, they played real well, they battled back,” Peterson said. “We scored first and then we held them for a while. Citrus just kept chipping away, they would score a run here and on to the next inning … eventually they tied the game up and went ahead, but then in the top of the seventh, we ended up winning.”
Peterson seemed pleased with the way the Renegades handled a game of back and forth scoring and especially the way the team fought back and came out victorious in the first game.
After the game, Katie Hoffman, who plays the first base position for the Renegades, said, “I was pretty stoked. I was excited it was our first conference win, and it was a good win at that.”
Hoffman said she felt the team’s communication and energy were very positive.
“The energy stayed up pretty high. We were all pumped up and fired, and we were battling through and wanted to win,” she said.
“The outcome of the game is to just continue to fight, and that’s what we did, and I think that’s how we won.”
Hoffman and Vanessa Moralez ended the game going 1 for 2 with one RBI each. Alex Avila went 2 for 5, while Bailey Graham contributed a 2-for-4 performance and an RBI.
Quiddam was handed the ball for the second game that day and pitched a complete game. BC lost to Citrus College 9-1.
The score was 5-1 going into the sixth inning, but eventually Citrus College ended up scoring another four runs at the top of the sixth inning.
“We only had one more chance to score at the bottom of the sixth, but we just couldn’t produce a run,” said Peterson.“We scored our only run in the first inning and stopped scoring.”
Peterson said the Renegades game schedule was different than past tournaments.
“This was our first double header where we had to play two back-to-back games,” she said. “Typically, in tournaments, we play one [game] in the morning and we’ve had rest and played one in the night.”
The Renegades are a relatively young team and Peterson agreed that this is a learning experience for the Renegades moving forward.
“We have a very young team, but we are learning,” she said.
Avila explained that the Renegades had just beat Citrus not that long prior to the game, saying, “We got too relaxed with the team.”
Avila finished the game going 1 for 2, while Moralez provided the only run scored in the first inning.
The Renegades won March 13 at Santa Monica College by a final of 7-4. Bundy pitched four innings and allowed three hits and three runs with three strikeouts.
Avila went 3 for 3 with one RBI. Brenna Vasquez went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, and Erin Huckaby contributed with 1 for four and two RBIs.