College of the Canyons played to a 10-4 conference victory at Glendale College on Thursday, March 20 to snap a five-game skid, with Jeniece Jimenez and Avery Alvarez both blasting home runs in the decisive victory.

Canyons (11-10, 1-3) jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first five innings thanks to a series of big hits.

Jimenez notched her big swing with a two-run home run in the third inning to put COC on the board first. Three batters later Alvarez took her turn with a round-tripper to move Canyons ahead 4-0.

Alvarez doubled home another run to begin the Cougars’ scoring in the fifth inning and later came around to score on an infield error by the Vaqueros (8-13) to build a 6-0 advantage. She ended the game an impressive three-for-four with the home run, a pair of doubles and five RBI.

That proved to be more than enough run support for COC starter Nichole Muro, who pitched the entire seven innings, scattering 11 hits and three walks for four runs, but just one earned, to earn the win. Muro (6-5) also struck out a pair of batters.

After seeing Glendale plate a pair of runs in the sixth the Cougars quickly struck back.

Yahali Gonzalez started a productive seventh inning with an RBI single that was followed by another two-run double from Alvarez. Once again, Alvarez came around to score another unearned run on a catching error to make it a 10-2 game.

Glendale managed to get a bit closer with an RBI single in the seventh and also benefited from a COC infield error to make it a 10-4 final score.

Top Performers

• Avery Alvarez – 3-for-4, HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI
• Yahali Gonzalez – 3-for-4, 2 R, RBI, SB
• Jeniece Jimenez – 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB
• Nichole Muro – W (6-5), 7 IP, 11 H, 4 R, ER, 3 BB, 2 K
• Krista Viereck – 1-for-3, BB, 2 R, SB

Upcoming Schedule

Conference play  resumes Tuesday, March 25, for a 2:30 p.m. start time vs. L.A. Valley College at Whitten Field.

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