College of the Canyons softball concluded its season sweep of L.A. Valley College by taking a 9-2 road victory over the Monarchs on Thursday, April 17.

Canyons (20-17, 7-4) claimed its fourth victory across the last five game. The win was also the fourth straight against Western State Conference, South Division opponents dating back to March 27. The Cougars currently sit fourth in the conference standings, one game behind Antelope Valley College (27-7, 8-3) and Bakersfield College (19-18, 8-3) who are tied for second place. COC had previously defeated LAVC 12-4 back on March 25.

On Thursday, Canyons deployed its pitching duo of Nichole Muro and Akane Gonzalez to shut down the Monarchs (11-23-1, 0-11) for the better part of seven innings.

Muro started the game and pitched a strong five innings, allowing a pair of unearned runs on three hits. She also struck out three LAVC batters.

Meanwhile, the Cougars’ lineup plated two runs in the first inning. Mia Reese was the first to come in on an unearned run brought about by an LAVC infield error. Later, it was Brooke Petretti initiating a steal sequence that allowed Jeniece Jimenez to also score at 2-0.

COC added three more runs in the third with the Monarchs continuing to aid that process with a series of infield errors. Alexia Mejia‘s RBI single in the inning scored Grace Dias and made it a 4-0 Canyons lead.

L.A. Valley finally got on the board in the third inning with an RBI double that scored the first of two unearned runs vs. Muro. Later, a passed ball allowed a second base runner to come home at 4-2.

In the seventh, Jimenez got those runs back with an infield single that scored two more runs for the Cougars’ side. Paige Pikor‘s RBI triple in the inning scored Jimenez. Pikor then finished the inning by scoring on an RBI fielder’s choice of the bat of Avery Alvarez.

Gonzalez pitched the final two innings surrendering just one hit and striking out four batters in the game.

The Monarchs were charged with five errors in the game. Canyons swiped six bases in the winning effort.

Top Performers

Jeniece Jimenez – 1-for-2, 2 BB, 3 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB

Alexia Mejia – 1-for-2, RBI

Nichole Muro – W (9-7), 3 H, 2 R, 3 K

Brooke Petretti – 1-for-3, BB, R, 2 SB

Paige Pikor – 1-for-1, 3B, R, RBI

Mia Reese – 3-for-5, 2 R, SB

Upcoming Schedule

The Cougars will conclude the regular season with a home tilt vs. Bakersfield College at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 22. That game will be livestreamed to fans free of charge on the Cougars Sports Network.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.