Bakersfield College's margin for error is narrowing as the Renegades approach the end of the season.
Not only did BC softball enter Tuesday with a mere half-game lead over Antelope Valley, the team held just a one-game advantage over College of the Canyons, its doubleheader opponent at the Dean and Adah Gay Sports Complex.
One more ball put in play for the Cougars instead of a strikeout in the first game, or one fewer diving catch by Canyons center fielder Ashlynn Heck in the second, could have resulted in a sweep in either direction. As it was, BC and Canyons split the two results.
Antelope Valley, meanwhile, rallied late to sweep Citrus and move into first place in the Western State Conference. The Marauders already have two skin-of-their-teeth wins over BC thus far this season, putting them in prime position to earn the crown. But both AVC and BC still have one game remaining against Canyons.
The Renegades will first return to their home field for a nonconference doubleheader against College of the Sequoias on Friday.
BC 3, Canyons 2
Harrison struck out three consecutive batters with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, then stranded two additional runners in the seventh to preserve the Renegades’ precarious 3-2 lead and earn them the win.
Harrison gave up two runs across seven innings and claimed the win to wrap up a stretch of four runs allowed in her last 30.
Canyons' Schalyn Rhambo doubled to left-center field to lead off the sixth, then Harrison’s defense put her in a jam by struggling to field back-to-back line drives toward shortstop. Rhambo came around to score as Alyssa Silva and Julia Fuentes reached base, before Harrison hit Allyson Melgar on a full-count pitch to load the bases.
But she caught Valery Ramirez, who was previously 2-for-2, looking on a checked swing, froze Gigi Garcia and then got pinch-hitter Sabrina Englebrecht swinging to end the threat.
BC maintained its one-run lead because of Shelbie Valencia’s sacrifice fly one frame earlier, a crucial addition to the Renegades’ pair of first-inning runs on RBI singles by Rylee Price and Kady Smith.
Price reached base in all three at-bats thanks to a pair of walks — the only two conceded by Melgar — on a fairly undistinguished hitting day for BC.
The Renegades spent the vast majority of the game with a one-run lead because Fuentes followed up BC’s offensive success with a second-inning double, then Ramirez drove her in with a base hit to cut the deficit to 2-1. The Renegades got out of that inning with a 6-3 double play thanks to a solo defensive effort by shortstop Shelbie Valencia.
Ramirez and BC's Breanna Marquez (2-for-3) were the only players with multiple hits as the teams recorded eight apiece.
Canyons 6, BC 5
The Renegades put themselves in a hole with a brutal defensive effort, as four errors in the first four innings helped Canyons jump out to a 3-1 lead, but BC still found itself just a few feet away from a tie game as Kady Smith was tagged out heading home in the bottom of the seventh inning. Instead, the Cougars went home with the doubleheader split and a 6-5 victory.
Canyons had broken open a 3-3 game earlier in that same frame, getting to Harrison for a Silva walk, Fuentes RBI double and Melgar single up the middle. Gigi Garcia then brought home two more runs by smacking the ball past the diving right fielder Destiny Cuellar.
BC predictably rallied, but not before losing a precious out when Heck laid out to rob Valencia of a surefire hit. So with one out, Alyna Ruiz singled, Price reached on an error and Smith sent the ball back up the middle to load the bases against pitcher Lex Angulo. But Cuellar, who was responsible for walk-off singles on April 7 and 11, grounded out.
Anika Romo, who entered her at-bat 0-for-6 on the day, seemed to save the Renegades with a hard-hit double to right-center field. Ruiz scored and so did pinch-runner Roxane Garza, but the Cougars caught Smith going for home on a throw from Fuentes to Silva to the catcher Garcia, ending the game.
Harrison took the loss after her vulnerable seventh inning, despite a competent showing that included her escape from another bases-loaded jam in the third when she got Garcia to ground out.
All 11 runs charged to Harrison and Angulo were listed as earned, but defense made a substantial difference. Heck had one impressive catch in each of the last three innings, depriving Ruiz, Stephanie Kay and finally Valencia of hits.
Meanwhile, Canyons got its first run in the second inning because Ramirez reached on a fielding error on a hanging fly ball in right, Garcia made it to first on a bounce that evaded Valencia and Memorie Munoz bunted in a run when Harrison wound up for an overhand throw to the plate instead of a quick toss.
The Cougars' fourth-inning charge for two more runs — which went home on a double by Rhambo off the glove of Romo — also started when Munoz came aboard on an error.
Rhambo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Melgar added two hits of her own. The Renegades' offense benefited primarily from the speed of Marquez and Camille Chavez further down the lineup in the Nos. 8 and 9 spots. Marquez was 2-for-3, including a bunt single, and Chavez became the first Renegade to triple twice in more than four years.
Both triples set up Valencia for RBIs, and the second was an RBI of its own to send home Marquez after her bunt. BC's first three runs came in this way, as the lineup struggled to string hits together until the seventh.
