Porterville College continues to climb in the Central Valley Conference standings after a doubleheader sweep of Taft College on Tuesday. The Pirates took the opener by a final score of 7-4 and needed just five innings to rout the Cougars 11-1 in Game 2.
Porterville, now 19-11 overall, extended its season-best winning streak to six games and moved to 7-5 in the CVC. Taft dropped to 8-21 overall and 1-10 in conference play.
The Pirates got off to a fast start in Game 1, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first inning off Taft starting pitcher Allie Dobbs.
PC starter Alexis Rodriguez was cruising until the top of the fourth. Taft rallied for three runs to cut the Porterville to one at 4-3.
But the Pirates responded with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to put the game out of reach. Taft scored once in the fifth, but Rodriguez was able to shut down the Cougars the rest of the way.
Rodriguez went the distance for the victory. She allowed just 2 earned runs and 6 hits. Dobbs took the loss for Taft, allowing 4 runs (3 earned), 2 hits, and 3 walks during the first inning. Abrianna Carr pitched well in relief, giving up 3 runs (0 earned) and 5 hits over the final 5 innings.
At the plate, Auzia Mosley (1-for-3) drove in a pair of runs for the Pirates while Sayra Sanchez and Annisa Gomez went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
Dobbs and Kaitlyn Allen had two hits each for Taft.
It was more of the same in Game 2 as the Pirates put up five runs to get the game going in the bottom of the first off Carr, Taft's starter.
PC also put together a big six-run rally in the third to account for the rest of its scoring. Taft got its lone run in the top of the second.
Ashley Rojo smashed a two-run home run for the Pirates, her fourth of the season. She went 2-for-3 to lead PC's offense in Game 2. Raquel Gonzalez, Sanchez, Kuea Angilau, Mosley, Kassy Cervantes, and Shantae Gutierrez all drove in runs for Porterville.
Taft totaled just two hits in the contest. Dobbs and Jade Martinez both hit singles.
Carr took the loss, allowing 5 runs and 6 hits over 2 1/3 innings. Ashley Eyraud picked up the complete-game win for Porterville, giving up an unearned run and two hits.
