The Hawks (3-19) failed to pull out a close game against the Modesto Junior College Pirates (14-10) on March 22 at Cosumnes River College, falling to last place in the Big 8 conference.

Both teams had trouble scoring early but were able to keep pace with each other as the game progressed.

The Pirates scored the first run in the fourth inning when Hawks’ freshman pitcher Kierstin Dalbianco walked in a run.

After stealing second and third base late in the fifth inning,  freshman infielder Alissa Greenhaw evened the score when freshman outfielder Nikki Luiz batted her home. Greenhaw finished with three stolen bases and scored the Hawks’ only run.

The Hawks’ defense kept them in the game. Freshman outfielder Allison Barsetti caught several foul balls which provided easy outs for the Hawks.

Despite the Hawks’ efforts, the Pirates scored the winning run during the seventh and final inning, resulting in a 2-1 win.

The Hawks failed to capitalize on having runners in scoring position.  The Pirates faced similar challenges but capitalized on walks.

“We’ve played a lot of close games that could have gone either way,” CRC head coach Kristy Schroeder said.

“I think it’s huge, a huge win for us,” Pirates head coach Kelly Nasrawi said . “We couldn’t make it happen at first, but we finished.”

Both coaches said their teams aren’t relaxing after this game.

“[There’s] always work to be done,” Nasrawi said.

Schroeder said the Hawks need to go into the next game with more energy instead of waiting for the next person to do it for them.