Poor offensive execution led to a sluggish start for the Warriors as they were unable to take advantage with runners in scoring position.

The Warriors (6-2) were defeated 4-1 in the second game of their double header against the undefeated Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros (5-0) on Tuesday.

Natalie Francis did not have one her best games on the mound for El Camino and received her first loss of the season. Francis allowed four runs and four hits in five innings pitched, while walking three batters.

Earlier in the day, the team blew out Orange Coast College 10-1 in five innings, but the offense could not convert the runners on base into runners batted in.

The Vaqueros were able to take advantage of defensive mistakes by the Warriors to score the first run of the game in the second inning. El Camino would finish the game with four errors, while the Vaqueros had only two.

“We didn’t do a good job of putting the ball on the ground,” Warriors coach Jessica Rapoza said. “We kind of lost focus in this game and were not watching the ball all the way to our gloves.”

The Warriors had very little trouble getting on base, but they were not able to execute and put runs up on the board when it mattered most. El Camino finished the game with a total of nine players left on base and Santa Barbara finished with five.

“It was just a sloppy game overall,” center fielder Kattya Calderon said. “We made too many errors on defense and got under the ball a lot. We did not play El Camino softball at all.”

The Warriors recorded seven hits in 25 at-bats and zero RBIs in the loss. Santa Barbara finished with four hits in 22 at-bats and three RBIs.

Freshman catcher Brigid Antonelli and freshman third baseman Maleigha Quintero produced most of the offense for El Camino. Antonelli and Quintero finished this game with two hits each in three at-bats. Quintero completed the doubleheader with a total of four hits in five at-bats.

Softball will travel to Citrus College (0-3) on Feb. 11 and it will conclude its week with a doubleheader against College of the Canyons (3-1) and Fullerton College (2-4) on Feb. 12.

“This game was a struggle offensively,” Quintero said. “We just have learn from it and move on.”