Three-run Eighth Lifts Riverside to 5-3 Home Win Over Visiting Fullerton Thursday

RIVERSIDE -- Patrick Vizcaino drove in the tying run and scored the go-ahead in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the Riverside City College (RCC) Tigers baseball team to a 5-3 Orange Empire Conference (OEC) home win over the visiting Fullerton College (FC) Hornets Thursday afternoon (Mar. 16) at Samuel C. Evans Park.

Vizcaino -- who is pictured -- a sophomore LF/1B from Chino (Don Antonio Lugo HS '14), socked a one-out RBI double to right field to drive in sophomore DH Ryan Mota (Fontana - Kaiser HS '14), who had singled sharply to third base to open the inning. After a Hornet pitching change, sophomore 2B Garrett McKee (Hemet - Hemet HS '15) singled to center field to drive in Vizcaino to give RCC a 4-3 lead. McKee later scored on a two-out RBI double down the right-field line by sophomore CF Jack Bailey (San Diego - Torrey Pines HS '15) to make the score 5-3 in favor of Riverside (16-6 overall, 4-1 OEC).

RCC freshman 3B Jake Barham (Long Beach - Woodrow Wilson HS '15) led the Tigers with two hits, including a RBI single in the sixth to make the score 3-2.

For Fullerton (11-10 overall, 1-4 OEC), LF John Zanze went three for four with one run scored and one RBI and RF Chase Kerr went three for four with one run scored. DH Jesse Hayes had a two-run double in the top of the first to drive in two unearned runs.

Sophomore RHP reliever Daniel Agramont (Eastvale - Eleanor Roosevelt HS '15) entered the game with one out in the top of the eighth and pitched 1-1/3 innings (one hit, two strikeouts) to gain the win (2-0). Sophomore LHP Bayley Chesterton (Riverside - M.L. King HS '15) logged the final out of the game to earn his first save.

Fullerton starting RHP Chris Sanchez went the first 7-1/3 innings, scattered seven hits, and four runs (three earned), with zero walks and eight strikeouts as his record fell to 4-3. RCC starting sophomore RHP Matt Acosta (San Bernardino - Cajon HS '14), despite the two unearned runs in the first, scattered ten hits and allowed three runs (one earned), with zero walks and six strikeouts to keep the Tigers in the game.

The teams conclude the three-game OEC series on Saturday, Mar. 18, at Fullerton. First-pitch time is 12 p.m.

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