Cardiac Cats win again
Thursday was the 16th game of the season decided by one run
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 2 |
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
The Saddleback baseball team won its fifth straight game with a 4-3 win over Orange Coast College on Thursday afternoon at Saddleback Field. The Bobcats moved to within one game of second place in the Orange Empire Conference standings with the win.
Saddleback has played an inordinate number of close games this season. The Bobcats have had 16 games decided by one run, and in recent weeks have started to win the close battles. Thursday's 4-3 win in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Bobcats five straight wins to move six games above .500 for the first time this season. They have now won seven of the past eight games, four of which have been decided by one run.
Saddleback trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning on Thursday when the magic reappeared. The Bobcats managed to score a run despite never recording a hit in the inning as the Orange Coast pitching staff served up four walks and a hit batsman to end the game. The final at-bat came from Carter Enoch, who was plunked by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the inning. Enoch earned the Mr. Pickles Offensive Player-of-the-Game by going 0-for-0 with three walks, a hit-by-pitch and two RBI.
Saddleback started Landon Gordon on the mound, and he pitched through the seventh inning before giving way to Miles Chandler. Gordon left the game on the wrong side of a 3-2 score on the scoreboard before Chandler (4-1) came on to hold the Pirates scoreless over the final two at-bats to earn the win.
Saddleback's offense recorded only four hits for the game on Thursday but drew 11 walks and a hit-batsman from the Pirate pitching staff. In the two games in the series so far, Saddleback has taken 20 walks to go along with three hit batters.
Saddleback is now 21-15 overall and 11-6 in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) following the win. The Bobcats moved to within a game of second place in the OEC with four games remaining.
Saddleback and Orange Coast resume the series at Orange Coast on Saturday at 12:00 PM in Costa Mesa.