By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director 

Nichole Muro was brilliant in the circle through seven shutout innings and Gigi Garcia broke the game open with a two-run double in the sixth inning as No. 15 College of the Canyons got past No. 18 Cuesta College 4-0 in its 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs play-in game at Whitten Field on Tuesday.

Canyons (16-24) and Cuesta (22-16) needed less than 90 minutes to play out a postseason contest that featured just four combined hits until the decisive sixth inning. COC will now continue its postseason run while Cuesta had its campaign come to a halt.

Muro, who was making her first career postseason start, pitched out of two-out jam in the first inning before settling down the rest of the way. The freshman fanned four and issued just one walk while also hitting two batters in what was a two-hit shutout.

She retired the side in order in the second, third and fourth innings to keep things moving along. Muro (9-14) did the same to close things out with ease in the seventh.

The shutout was Muro’s second of the season and could not have come at a better time, with Canyons playing in the postseason for a third consecutive season.

In the home half of the sixth Brooke Petretti and Ryan Shepherd led off the inning on back-to-back singles. Kate Garcia‘s hard hit ball in the infield allowed COC to load the bases ahead of Gigi Garcia‘s big at bat. Her double to right field brought in Petretti and Shepherd for the first scores of the game.

Gigi Garcia then swiped second before Paige Pikor lifted a ball into right field, allowing Kate Garcia to come running in from third base at 3-0.

In the next sequence it was Lily Baggot with an RBI sac-fly of her own, this time driving the ball to center field and allowing Gigi Garcia to come in for the final score of the game, moving Canyons ahead 4-0.

Isabella Garcia took the loss for Cuesta. She was in the circle for all six innings allowing four runs on eight hits with a strikeout. Kylyn Parker and Hailee Bussard were the only members of the Cuesta lineup to come away with a hit.

Top Performers

– Lily Baggot – 1-for-2, sac-fly, RBI

– Gigi Garcia – 3-for-3, 2B, R, 2 RBI, SB

– Nichole Muro – 7 IP, W, 2 H, BB, 4 K

– Brooke Petretti – 1-for-3, R

– Paige Pikor – 0-for-1, sac-bunt, sac-fly, RBI

 – Ryan Shepherd – 1-for-3, R

Upcoming Schedule

Canyons continues postseason play Friday, May 3, at No. 2 Cypress College in the opener of a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Game two will be held at noon on Saturday, May 4 and if needed a third game would take place later that afternoon, at approximately 2 p.m.

Cypress (33-7) finished runner-up in the Orange Empire Conference behind conference leader Fullerton College. The Chargers are entering the postseason on a seven-game winning streak.

COC and Cypress previously met twice in the regular season with the Cougars falling in both contests.