Pirates rally late for 7-6 win over Bobcats

COSTA MESA -- It was the bat AND the glove of Kayla Vargas down the stretch that proved to be the difference for the Orange Coast College softball team as the Pirates rallied from a 6-2 deficit to beat Saddleback College, 7-6, on Thursday at the OCC Softball Stadium.

The Pirates (17-17, 11-6 in the Orange Empire Conference) moved to within a game of first place in the OEC with the win, while the first-place Bobcats dropped to 24-12 overall, 12-5 in conference play.

After falling behind 6-2 heading into the bottom of the third, Coast battled back. Relief pitcher Kelsey McNair kept the Pirates in the game with a strong showing in the circle, earning a Kelsey McNair-type of pitching line. Over 5 2/3 innings, the sophomore walked five, hit two batters and threw three wild pitches. She also allowed just one hit over that span while striking out nine Bobcat batters to earn the win and improve to 3-2.

While McNair was keeping the Bobcats on their heels inside the batter's box, the Pirate offense began to chip away and scored a run in the third and two runs in the fourth to pull to within a run at 6-5. In the fourth, Jaden Fraser led off with a single and was moved to second on a hit-by-pitch by Marissa Sardinas. Maiah Rodriguez looped a single down the right-field line to score Fraser before Kimora Tuipala drove home Sardinas with an RBI-double to make it 6-5 and ending the day for Saddleback Starting pitcher Kylee Cammarato.

Reliever Colette Howren (13-5), who blanked the Pirates on Tuesday in a 5-0 win, promptly retired the next three batters to preserve Saddleback's 6-5 lead, a lead that carried over into the bottom of the sixth inning.

A Rodriguez HBP brought up the go-ahead run to the plate and Vargas did not miss her opportunity, sending a high fly ball over the left-field fence to put OCC ahead, 7-6.

After McNair struck out the first batter in the top of the seventh, Mikayla Mendoza sent a deep fly ball to left, only to be snagged at the wall by Vargas, keeping the potential tying run off of the bases. From there, McNair coaxed a harmless pop out to end the game.

Vargas finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and three RBI for the Pirates. Fraser went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and McNair added two hits and an RBI.

Game 3 of this three-game series takes place on Thursday at Saddleback College, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Monday against Cypress College, also at 2 p.m.