The Santa Rosa Junior College softball team (21-7, 6-5) got back to its winning ways in a two-game sweep over Diablo Valley College with an 8-1 and 5-1 win March 28.

The Bear Cubs had been in a bit of a slump, going 5-5 in their last 10 games.

The main reason SRJC earned a win in the first win was its offense.

 “Our bats finally woke up; we had been making contact with the ball [before] but just not solid enough. A lot of the weak groundouts and popups we had been hitting turned into more solid hits today,” said Krissy Pardoski.

SRJC has averaged over five runs per game in the past five games, a steady improvement after a disappointing start to conference play.

“Against DVC we were able to just play our game. We showed up and proved we were the better team and a team that is not to be taken lightly,” Pardoski said.

The Bear Cubs had excellent performances from starting pitchers Megan Winters, Dana Thomson and Haylie Chase. The trio has a 2.72 earned-run average, to go with 111 strikeouts in 157 innings pitched.

The offense had solid contributions from the whole lineup. Key contributors include: outfielder/infielder Chauntel Cesna who has two home runs this season; Krissy Pardoski, who has been on fire since entering conference play; catcher Megan Stroud, who has been a clutch performer by picking up crucial RBIs all season long; Samantha Bardee, who has performed at a high level, hitting over .400 all season; Winters, who has only struck out once all season.

The Bear Cubs were rained out of their doubleheader against Solano College March 29, as well as against the No. 1 team and big rival Sierra College April 1. They hope to get back into play against Modesto College April 5.