Pirates slam Dons, 12-6, in OEC opener

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College softball team did most of the heavy lifting with two swings of the bat as a pair of grand slam home runs propelled the Pirates past visiting Santa Ana, 12-6, on Tuesday in the Orange Empire Conference opener for both teams.

The offense started and stopped with the bases-loaded dingers for the Pirates (9-2, 1-0). Coast grabbed a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Isabel Lopez followed an infield single, an error and a hit-by-pitch with a fly ball to center that cleared the fence and cleared the bases, putting OCC in a comfortable spot early in the game.

That comfort level quickly evaporated as the Dons (7-10, 0-1) took advantage of three Pirate errors and grouped some hits together for a six-run frame, putting SAC up, 6-4 in the top of the fourth.

It stayed that way until the bottom of the fifth, when Reyna Hernandez delivered a clutch, two-out, two-run double to right-center, scoring pinch runners Josie Zamora and Brooke Whiteman to tie the game at 6.

After relief pitcher Kelsey McNair (3-0) retired the side in order in the top of the sixth, Coast looked to grab the lead in the bottom of the frame. 

Singles by McKenzie Koshi and Lopez and a walk to Jasmyn Morales loaded the bases and with two outs, Kayla Vargas delivered the game-winning hit with a two-run single to center, scoring Koshi and Vargas to make it 8-6. After a walk reloaded the bases, Hernandez capped off her six-RBI game with OCC's second grand slam of the afternoon, blowing the game wide open.

That was plenty for McNair, who got the final three outs in the seventh to end the contest. 

Frida Esters went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Koshi added a hit and two runs scored. Camila Hernandez did a good job of keeping OCC close in the middle frames, throwing two scoreless innings of relief with just one hit allowed.

The Pirates will TRY and make up an earlier rained out game with Long Beach City College on Wednesday at OCC, beginning at 2:30 p.m. Game 2 of this week's three-game series with the Dons takes place on Thursday (2 p.m.) with the finale back here at OCC on Friday (2 p.m.).