STATE JUNIOR COLLEGE SOFTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP : Moorpark in Must-Win Situation

The Moorpark College women’s softball team is a loss from ending its season after beating Sacramento City College, 1-0, and losing to Palomar, 6-1, on Friday, the opening day of the state junior college tournament.

After taking 2 1/2 hours 10 innings to knock off Sacramento City College, the North’s second-seeded team, in its opener, Moorpark had to come back less than an hour later to face Palomar, the defending state champion and this year’s top-seeded team from the south.

Before the Lady Raiders had time to recover from the opening game, Palomar scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back. The loss dropped Moorpark (30-10) into the losers’ bracket of the double-elimination tournament. It will play today at 1 p.m. against the winner of the 10 a.m. Cypress-Golden West game.

Palomar’s first-inning outburst came at the expense of Moorpark’s Robin Thomas (28-7), whose 10 innings of shutout work against Sacramento City had extended her scoreless-innings streak to 32.