el Don News
By Jacob Peterson and Jaime Buenaventura
Two pitchers combined for the Dons second straight shutout in its Orange Empire Conference season opener as they go on to beat Orange Coast Pirates 7-0.
Freshman starting pitcher Tori Franks led Santa Ana College by extending her consecutive scoreless innings streak to nine.
“We are going to try to bring the same intensity to every game no matter what,” Franks said.
Franks threw a complete game shutout Tuesday, in a 8-0 mercy win versus Glendale College.
She struck out five Orange Coast batters and walked one as she went on to earn the win. Franks said after the game that she focused primarily on blowing by Pirates’ hitters with her excellent “down” ball.
The freshman pitcher also added that she stayed away from her usually reliable screwball, as she struggled to find the plate with the pitch. Kirsten Gutierrez entered the game in the fifth inning to close out the win by Franks.
Gutierrez pitched three scoreless innings for the save. Franks and Gutierrez combined for a two-hitter.
Dons got the offense started early in the first inning as Vanessa Moreno drove in Emily Whitecavage and Kori Cochran to give the team an early two-run lead.
The Dons never looked back as they added five more runs over the next five innings.
In addition to scoring a run, center fielder Emily Whitecavage belted a smoking triple to drive in two runs in the fourth. This is the second consecutive win by the Dons softball team as the team moves to three and six on the year and 1-0 in the OEC.
“Since I am a new coach, it was a good win for me. Being a new coach I did not know what to expect because we only had five hits today,” Co-Head Coach Susie Parra said.
Dons next play at home against Antelope Valley on Tuesday February 17.
