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Saddleback College Athletics

Cats still scratchin’

Bobcats survive elimination game

Final Score Graphic: The Saddleback Bobcats defeated the San Diego Mesa Olympians with a final score of 4 to 3. Action: A group of Saddleback softball players in white pinstriped jerseys and red pants are shown celebrating enthusiastically on the dirt infield. Two players are jumping and hugging in the center of the frame, while teammates rush toward them with open arms.
Box Score
May 15, 2026

The Saddleback softball team stayed alive at the 3C2A State Softball Tournament with a 4-3 victory over San Diego Mesa College on Friday afternoon at Cal State Bakersfield.  The Bobcats will face the loser of Palomar College and San Joaquin Delta, who were playing at the time of publishing this recap.

Saddleback had a slow start as Mesa scored solo runs in the first, second and fourth innings in taking as 3-1 lead.  Smashed in between those runs was a solo home run from Ka'ui Garcia to provide the only run for the Bobcats over the first three at-bats.

Saddleback evened the score in the bottom half of the fourth inning as the momentum started to switch.  Mikayla Mendoza reached base on an error to start the inning and would up at second base after the miscue by the right fielder.  She would later get the Bobcats within one run as a result of a wild pitch by the Mesa pitcher.  Ehva Cifuentes-Zombulovic then rode the momentum as she lifted a ball into the jet stream and over the center field wall to even the score at 3-3.

The game remained tied until the bottom half of the seventh inning when Saddleback came to the plate with a chance to win the game.  The Bobcats looked as if they were going to go down quietly after the first two batters in the lineup were retired.  Tessa Arciniega then came to the plate and hit a bloop single to left field to put the potential winning run at first base.  The next batter was Lola Winningham, who hit a ball into the gap in left-center field that avoided the glove of the center fielder, allowing Arciniega to come all the way around the bases from first base to score the winning run of the game.  It was just the fifth hit of the game for Saddleback but kept the Bobcats alive in the tournament.

Kylee Cammarato started on the mound and pitched into the fourth inning before giving way to Colette Howren.  The Bobcat duo managed six strikeouts on the day, with Howren improving to 21-7 with the win.

Saddleback is now 33-14 on the season following the win.  The Bobcats will play again at 5:00 PM at Bakersfield College.