An offensive explosion by the Rio Hondo softball team helped them beat their conference foe, College of the Desert, to keep their playoff hopes alive in an 11-6 win.

After losing the last seven of eight games and allowing 55 runs in that span, the team tried to keep it together for the final three conference games that are left, beginning with a game against College of the Desert on April 20.

After Rio Hondo gave up a run in the first inning to Desert, a homerun to center field by Brittany Salcido tied the game at one a piece and would set up the day that Rio Hondo would have offensively.

The next four innings would see Rio Hondo score seven runs while the team would only give up a single run in the second, making the margin an 8-2 lead at the end of the fifth inning.

While the Rio Hondo offense was clicking, the defensive side was also doing well and at one point in the fifth inning with bases loaded and two outs, Brenae Martinez wound up one of her four pitches for a strikeout, stopping what would have given Desert the lead.

The sixth inning saw Rio’s defensive woes come back to haunt them like it has throughout the season, giving up four runs and allowing Desert to get within two runs at the bottom of the sixth inning.

Rio Hondo stayed the course however, trusting one another to make the plays necessary to win, as they scored three more runs while making defensive plays in the seventh that closed out an impressive 11-6 win for the team.

Head Coach Bianca Urquidi said that the ending of the sixth inning was good, noting that her team put up more runs to give the pitcher a little bit more cushion so that Martinez could just relax in the circle and do her job while the defense finished it out for her.

This gave Martinez another win this season, striking out four batters, only allowing five hits and six runs in the game.

It was also a big day for Esthefany Martinez, going two for three at the plate with three RBI’s while Elaine Verdugo went two for four at the plate with three RBI’s as well.

Urquidi mentioned that she was glad that her team was able to muscle through and get the win after her team had previously lost the last four games with barely any offensive output and countless defensive woes.

Urquidi also said that the team needs to still play together noting that she is looking for them to perform “really well,” as they need to win both games so that they are still in contention for the playoffs.

Their next game was a double header against Barstow College on April 22 and Rio Hondo managed to stay in contention for the playoffs with a close 3-2 and then a comfortable 22-14 win.

Their first game was the closest of the day, barely edging out a 3-2 win while the second game was the best scoring output the Lady Roadrunners have put on this season, with a 22-14 win.

These three wins now push Rio’s overall record to 15-24 and the conference wins give them a 9-5 record with playoff hopes still intact.

Rio Hondo will look to finish their season and extend their three game winning streak in an away game against Victor Valley College on April 25 at 3 p.m.