The Rio Hondo College softball team hosted Chaffey College April 11 in a game that would see the Lady Roadrunners come from behind to win the game 4-3 after a stellar performance from sophomore pitcher Brenae Martinez.

Martinez only allowed one earned run in the seventh-inning rally between both sides and ultimately scored the winning run against the Panthers in the South Coast Conference North Division matchup.

The game started off in Chaffey College’s favor, opening the scoring in the top of the first inning after A. Dietrich stole second base while teammate Isabelle Dena stole home. Chaffey added two more runs in the second after Dena tripled getting two RBI as Vanessa Garcia and Morgan Finley scored to get an early 3-0 lead against Rio Hondo College.

The Lady Roadrunners scored a run of their own in the bottom of the second inning thanks to a two-out double by Sarah Hauffen-Salgado, getting an RBI that brought home Karina Gomez, making it a 3-1 game. Rio Hondo would continue to chip away at the Panther’s lead and in the bottom of the fourth inning Marissa Macias singled getting an RBI while advancing to second base as Gomez scored another.

With the score now at 3-2, Rio Hondo continued to pressure Chaffey College and in the bottom of the fifth inning Loren Pichardo’s double and RBI brought home Jelissa Castanon to tie the game at 3-3 as the Lady Roadrunners continued to pressure the Panther’s with hopes of a comeback within reach.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the seventh inning when a moment of brilliance from Martinez pulled out the win for Rio Hondo in an inning that appeared to be dead after a sacrificial bunt resulted in a double-play minimizing the Lady Roadrunner’s chances to close out the game.

Next up to bat, Martinez was walked to first base followed by Desiree Rhodes who was also walked, advancing both before Martinez broke away to steal third. With Gomez at the plate, a passing error from Chaffey College’s third baseman saw Martinez break away for home to score the game-winner for Rio Hondo College.

Martinez went two for three in the contest and was one of three players in the match to get two hits, with Macias going two for two while Pichardo was two for three. The win over Chaffey College improved the Lady Roadrunners overall record to 9-24 and 2-6 in the South Coast Conference North Division conference.