Saddleback surge continues
Bobcats now alone in third place with five games remaining
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 17 | 1 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
The Saddleback baseball team won its fourth straight game with a 13-2 victory over Orange Coast College on Tuesday afternoon in Costa Mesa. The Bobcats are now alone in third place with five games remaining in the regular season.
Saddleback came into the matchup on a hot streak after sweeping Fullerton last week and suddenly finding themselves heading in the right direction in the standings. The Bobcats remained sizzling hot, blasting Orange Coast for a fourth straight win.
Saddleback trailed 1-0 heading into the second inning when the bats got hot. The Bobcats scored in the next five innings, turning a 1-0 deficit into a 10-2 lead.
Saddleback scored four times in the top half of the second inning. The Bobcats took advantage of a defensive miscue from the Pirates in scoring four unearned runs. Cole Strane got the scoring started when he singled home Carter Enoch, who had reached base on an error. Later in the inning, Matthew Henning had a double to score Strane and Dmitri Susidko for a 3-0 advantage. The next batter was Wesley Hickey, who singled home Henning and the Bobcats were off and running.
Saddleback scored solo runs in the third and fourth innings. The solo run in the fourth was a home run from Hickey over the right-field wall to give the Bobcats a 6-1 lead. It was Hickey's fourth homer of the season and his first in 14 games.
Saddleback blew the game wide open in the top half of the fifth inning when it scored three times to take a 9-2 lead. The Bobcats had four hits in the inning, including doubles from Susidko and Jacob Hudson.
Saddleback added insult to injury when it scored three more times in the top half of the ninth inning for a 13-2 advantage. The Bobcats had another four hits in the inning, including a two-run single from Strane to close out the scoring. It was the fourth hit of the game for Strane, who finished 4-for-5 with two runs-scored and three RBI.
Saddleback started Jace Barajas on the mound and he pitched through the sixth inning in improving to 3-3 on the season. Barajas gave up four hits while striking out six in winning for the first time since February 7. Jack Gallison shut down the Pirates over the final three innings to pick up a save. Gallison allowed no hits while striking out four for the day.
Saddleback is now 20-15 overall and 10-6 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win. The Bobcats and Pirates will resume the series on Thursday at Saddleback at 2:00 PM.