Griffin Socks Bases-Loaded Triple & Sodders Pitches Eight Innings as Riverside Shades Santa Ana, 3-2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Ana | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 0 |
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Riverside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 3 | 1 |
RIVERSIDE -- Logan Griffin socked a bases-loaded triple and Austin Sodders pitched eight innings as the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers baseball team shaded the visiting Santa Ana College (SAC) Dons, 3-2, Friday (Mar. 27) afternoon in an Orange Empire Conference (OEC) game at the Evans Sports Complex.
Riverside (18-8 overall, 6-7 OEC) trailed SAC, 1-0, until the bottom of the fifth inning when a double by SS Austin Roberts and walks to RF David Robles and DH Garrett Dean loaded the bases with two outs. Up stepped Griffin, a sophomore CF from Apple Valley (Oak Hills HS), who socked the first pitch he saw off the wall in straightaway right field to clear the bases and give the Tigers a 3-1 lead.
Sodders, who struggled in the second inning when SAC scored the first run of the game while he made 29 pitches (15 strikes), righted himself and made only six pitches in the third and nine in the fifth. Sodders pitched eight innings (112 pitches, 77 strikes) and scattered ten hits, allowed two runs (both earned), walked one, struck out three and picked off two runners that eventually were caught stealing to improve to 7-0. Through 61-1/3 innings, Sodders' earned run average is 1.17. He has two complete games. Freshman RHP Octavio Lara (St. John Bosco HS) pitched a flawless ninth to record his third save.
Santa Ana (11-14-1 overall, 2-11 OEC), with the loss, has lost 11 straight games (all in OEC action) after starting out 2-0. SAC starting RHP Grant Wilhelm (0-5) was sailing along until the fateful fifth. Sophomore RF Nestor Linares went three for four to pace the Dons.In the eighth, Linares singled, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on a RBI double by CF Cameron Baranek to get SAC to within 3-2.
Next week, both teams will take a break from conference play. On Wednesday, Apr. 1, RCC will host the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros at 5 p.m. On Thursday, Apr. 2, RCC will host the Taft College Cougars at 2 p.m. while Santa Ana will host the Los Angeles Pierce College Brahmas.
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