It was a barn-burner at Nancy Kelly Field on Tuesday afternoon as the Long Beach City College softball team faced off against the Cerritos College Falcons in a conference matchup. After the Vikings trailed 10-4 after the first four innings, Long Beach exploded for 10 runs in the final three frames of the contest en route to a come-from-behind, 14-13 victory.
After the Vikings scored the first two runs on a two-run bomb from freshman starting pitcher Alissa Cienfuegos (Carson, CA), the Vikings succumbed to an eight-run bottom of the first inning from the Falcons to put them in a deep 8-2 rut to begin the game.
Both teams traded runs in the second and third innings, bringing the score to 10-4 in the Falcons favor.
The offensive flood gates opened for the Vikings in the top of the fifth inning as they turned on the gas an etched a useful four spot.
Freshman right fielder Alijah Vega (Bellflower, CA) got the train moving by doubling down the left-field line, scoring Cienfuegos and sophomore third baseman Denise Flores (Carson, CA). She later came around to score on a double steal. Freshman catcher Samantha Ontiveros (Norwalk, CA) capped off the big inning by scoring freshman center fielder Cynthia Ruiz (Long Beach, CA) on a single to center field, trimming the deficit to 10-8.
After the Falcons got one run back in the bottom half of the inning, LBCC returned to the plate and scored two more runs on a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt and a RBI-bunt single from Ruiz to bring the score to 11-10.
Cerritos continued to be a thorn in the Vikings' side by plating two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. However, the Vikings did not lose hope and plated four more runs in the top of the seventh inning.
Cienfuegos remained scorching hot at the dish by driving a single down the left-field line, scoring sophomore second baseman Daisy Velasquez (Bellflower, CA). Freshman shortstop Amanda McCalip (Bellflower, CA) followed by poking a single through the left side, plating Cienfuegos and Flores to highlight the big inning and grab a 14-13 lead and eventually the victory.
In the midst of all the offensive prowess, sophomore reliever Anissa Hamilton (Downey, CA) did a phenomenal job in relief en route to her second victory of the season. She earned four strikeouts in the process.
Cienfuegos launched her fourth and fifth homeruns on the season to go along with a RBI-single and RBI-double. She is now hitting .424 on the season with 36 hits and 24 RBI after her 4-for-4 showing.
Velasquez was a pest at the plate by going 3-for-4 and scoring two runs, while Ruiz launched her first-career round-tripper on a 4-for-5 day.
The Vikings (17-14, 3-1 SCC) will continue play at home on Thursday, March 30th to face off against the El Camino College Warriors at 3 p.m.