Photo by Bobby R. Hester
Photo by Bobby R. Hester

Big Fifth Inning Leads Riverside to Win over LA Mission

The Tigers have experienced a rough stretch of late by dropping four of their last five games. They looked to turn the trend around on Friday afternoon against the LA Mission College Eagles after coming off a strong win against Barstow on Thursday. The Tiger's bats stayed hot by banging out 13 hits and capitalizing off six Eagle errors leading to a 15-3 win.

Freshman starter Giancarlo Flores took to the mound for his fifth start and tossed five innings while allowing just one run off four hits. He fanned eight batters during his outing and punched out two batters in the first and third innings.

With Flores in the driver's seat, the Tiger offense granted him an even more comfortable cushion by etching an eight spot in the fifth inning.

Freshman right fielder Matthew Bardowell started off the inning by reaching via error and quickly advanced to third on a double from freshman catcher Matthew Shor.

Freshman first baseman Daniel Garcia and freshman shortstop Sebestian Flores followed with consecutive RBI knocks. Garcia punched a double to the outfield, while Flores sent home Garcia and Shor on a single.

Another LA Mission error kept the inning chugging along and the Tiger capitalized. Bardowell added icing on the cake with a two-RBI double and later came around to score after swiping third and trotting home on a throwing error. The Tigers held a 12-1 advantage at that point and never looked back.

Bardowell finished by going 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Flores went 2-for-4 as well with a two-run homerun he hit in the top of the sixth inning.

Garcia barreled two doubles and scored twice, while freshman center fielder Julian Alvarez went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Freshman reliever Albert Roblez pitched a scoreless sixth inning, while sophomore reliever Ryan Hernandez tossed two innings with allowing just one run on three this. Freshman Caleb Anderson tossed the ninth and allowed just one hit, but walked two batters.