Baseball Grasps Early Lead in Win Over Palomar

After splitting with Cuesta College last week, the Riverside City College baseball team traveled to San Marcos, CA to take on the Palomar College Comets in non-conference action. The Tigers jumped out to a three run lead early on and relied on their bullpen for the remainder of the game en route to a 4-3 triumph.

Riverside struck first in the top of the second inning to set the tone. After sophomore first baseman Daniel Martinez (Riverside, CA) and sophomore third baseman Jacob Barham (Long Beach, CA) both reached base to begin the inning, sophomore backstop Andrew Jurado (Riverside, CA) laced a double two batters later to plate Barham. Freshman second baseman Jacob Rodriguez (Walnut, CA) followed with a single, while freshman center fielder Reginald Coleman (San Diego, CA) put the ball in play and reached on a fielder's choice to score Rodriguez thus grabbing a 3-0 advantage.

Palomar responded in the following two innings by tying the game up at three apiece. Depsite to short spurt of Comet offense, the Tigers responded in the fourth inning by scratching across a run compliments of an RBI single from freshman designated hitter Joseph Hodapp (Murrieta, CA) to snag the lead back at 4-3.

A strong bullpen took over for the Tigers after freshman starter Andrew Salazar (Ohmi, Japan) earned the nod and threw the first three frames. Sophomore left hander Graham Kuck (Corona, CA) entered in the fourth inning and tossed three shutout innings that included three strikeouts and only two hits.

Sophomore reliever J.C. Hatch (Corona, CA) followed by chucking two scoreless innings, while D. Martinez came in for his first save of the season leading to a 4-3 victory.

Hodapp and Coleman each recorded two hits and a RBI on the day to pace the Tiger offense. Barham went 1-for-4 on the day with two runs scored as well.

Salazar earned his first-career victory after earning the start and tossing three innings while allowing three runs off five hits and striking out one. Kuck and Hatch each fanned three batters while each allowing a pair of hits.

The Tigers (2-1) will return to action on Thursday, February 1^st and take on the defending state champion Grossmont College Griffiths on the road at 1 p.m.