Daniels Fuels Citrus Sweep of AVC with Five-RBI Day

No. 13 ranked Citrus College Baseball defeated Antelope Valley 11-7 at home on Saturday, April 11 to complete the three-game series sweep. The Owls improve to 24-10 overall and 11-4 in conference play.

Jordan Daniels led the way with five RBIs as Citrus outlasted Antelope Valley in a back-and-forth contest.

The Owls totaled 17 hits and used a late surge, including a three-run eighth inning, to pull away after the Marauders erased an early deficit.

Citrus opened the scoring in the first inning when Jackson Gray delivered an RBI single to bring home Derek Almeda. The Owls added four more runs in the second, highlighted by an RBI double from Almeda and a three-run home run from Daniels to take a 5-0 lead.

Antelope Valley responded with a solo home run in the third before taking control in the fifth. A two-run double followed by a three-run homer capped a five-run inning that gave the Marauders a 6-5 advantage.

Citrus answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning, as Cam Casado crushed a no-doubt two-run home run to left field to put the Owls back on top, 7-6.

After Antelope Valley tied the game in the seventh, Citrus once again responded. Nick Velazquez delivered the go-ahead RBI single to give the Owls an 8-7 lead.

The Owls added insurance in the eighth inning, as Cole West singled in a run before Daniels capped his big day with a two-run single to extend the lead to 11-7.

Daniels finished 4-for-5 with a home run (his sixth of the season), a double and five RBIs. Almeda went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI, while Casado added two hits, including a home run (his third in the last two games and team-leading eighth of the season), along with two RBIs and two walks. Dominic Torrez also recorded two hits and scored twice as part of the Owls' 17-hit performance.

On the mound, Garrett Patterson (W, 3-1) earned the win in relief, allowing one run on four hits over four innings while striking out three. Michael Moses made the start, going four innings with four strikeouts, and Julian Hines closed the game with a scoreless ninth.

Citrus will return to action on Tuesday, April 14, hosting Los Angeles Valley College in the opening game of a three-game conference series at 2 p.m.