Pirates upend No. 1-ranked Palomar, 7-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 |
|
Palomar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 |
SAN MARCOS -- Maybe it shouldn't be as big of a shock as it normally would be, but the 2025 Orange Coast College softball team is good ... very good ... and on Wednesday afternoon, the Pirates showed the state just that as they blanked No. 1-ranked Palomar, 7-0, at Palomar College.
The fourth-ranked Pirates (20-4) snapped the Comets' 21-game win streak, dropping them to 25-2 for the season.
Entering the game with a TEAM batting average over .430, the Comets were blanked for the first time all season, thanks to a brilliant performance from sophomore Ruby Fidge, who held Palomar scoreless on just five singles for the game with two walks and two strikeouts.
While Fidge was keeping the Comets off of the scoreboard, the OCC offense was having little trouble with standout starter Maddie Bedolla, who entered the game with a perfect 13-0 record. She allowed five runs (two earned) over 4 2/3 innings to suffer the loss. While she and reliever Naveah Haywood combined for 10 strikeouts over seven innings, four walks and four Palomar errors enabled Coast to maximize damage on their seven hits.
Coast led early when a sacrifice fly by Jasmyn Morales in the top of the first put the Pirates up, 1-0. Single runs in the fourth and fifth innings made it 3-0 before a costly Palomar error scored two more runs in the fifth to make it 5-0.
Then, the finishing touches were put on a stellar all-around performance when Kimora Tuipala launched a two-run home run in the top of the seventh to cap off the scoring.
Fidge took it from there and retired nine of the final 10 batters she faced to seal the victory.
Coast will dive back into the Orange Empire Conference section of its schedule on Thursday as the Pirates play at Saddleback College, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Tuesday against Riverside City College, also at 2 p.m.
