Taking advantage of 11 walks, the Cerritos College softball team opened their 2017 season with a 13-9 win over host Palomar College on Friday. The Falcons (1-0), who were ranked #9 to start the year, scored eight of their runs against the #5-ranked Comets (0-1) in the first inning. The team will travel to Los Angeles Valley College for a 3:00 p.m. game on Tuesday.

The top of the lineup drew five walks on the day, as sophomore outfielder Kimberly Olivas (Warren HS) recorded three free passes, which led to a pair of runs, while sophomore second baseman Kylee Brown (Mayfair HS) picked up two walks and also drove in a pair of runs.

Through the first three innings, Cerritos had jumped out to a 13-4 lead, with Palomar slowly chipping away at that advantage. But the Falcons used a trio of pitchers to hold on to the lead, with sophomore Kristen Voller (Norco HS) earning the win in relief.

The top seven batters in the lineup collected hits, with the team needing only nine hits to account for their 13 runs. Sophomore pitcher Jissel Caballero (Warren HS) and freshman first baseman Anika Ortiz (Ocean View HS) both had a pair of hits, with freshman third baseman Briana Lopez (Norwalk HS) and freshman catcher Rain Vega (La Mirada HS) joining Brown and Ortiz with a pair of RBI.