After falling in a hole early, a leadoff triple from freshman center fielder Raelani Camez gave the home team the momentum it needed to roll past the the visitors.

The El Camino softball team (19-11) defeated the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners, 9-1, in six innings for it’s third victory in the last four days.

Sloppy defense by the Warriors in the first inning led to a few defensive errors, which allowed Rio Hondo to get on the board early with a 1-0 lead.

Freshman pitcher Natalie Francis and the Warriors’ defense found a way to bounce back and held the Roadrunners scoreless for the remainder of the game.

Francis tossed a complete game, striking out two batters, while allowing zero earned runs on five hits.

“I felt good today, even though we made a couple of errors in the first,” Francis said. “We picked each other up on defense and made some great plays to help us get the win.”

Hot bats for the Warriors helped produce 12 hits in 29 at-bats. The Roadrunners finished the game with five hits in 24 at-bats.

Camez had three hits in four at-bats, including an offense-sparking bomb to deep center field in her first at-bat of the game. Freshmen pitcher Haley Reed and first baseman Kammy Fisher helped Camez carry the load on offense with three hits each.

“We did really well being consistent (on offense) and stayed ahead of the count,” Fisher said. “We started off a little slow in the beginning. (But) we were able to bounce back and we played strong for the rest of the game.”

Freshmen catcher Brigid Antonelli and left fielder Taylor Richter added one hit each at the plate. Left fielder Aleah Lacy entered the game in the fourth inning and had one base-knock that loaded the bases in her only at-bat.

The Warriors will be back in action when they host South Coast Conference opponent, Cerritos College (23-7), on Tuesday at 3 p.m.