Ninth Inning Woes Tab No. 3 Tigers with Conference-Opening Loss
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saddleback | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 2 |
|
Riverside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
Two of the top three team in the state faced off today as the No. 3 Riverside City College baseball team hosted the No. 2 Saddleback College Gauchos in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) opener. It was a pitchers dual for the majority of the contest until Saddleback heated the bats up in the ninth inning, thus handing the Tigers a 5-2 loss.
The Bobcats, who were held scoreless through the first six frames, had a tough time figuring out freshman starting pitcher Giancarlo Flores.
Flores took to the mound for his sixth career start and was lights out from the get go. Despite facing a mini jam in the first inning, he forced a double play followed by a punch out to instantly grab momentum.
He went on to fan three batters in the second inning followed by four more strikeouts the following five innings. His only blunder cam in the final inning of work as he allowed a two-out lazy ground ball through the left side.
Riverside offense was shaky, but they plated two runs in the fifth innings after not recording a hit through the first four innings. Freshman tandem and middle infield duo Sebastian Flores and Darius Price each recorded base hits to get the train moving. They moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from freshman left fielder Brian West.
Freshman center fielder Julian Alvarez came up clutch and punched a two out, two strike, two RBI single through the middle to give the Tigers a 2-0 advantage.
However, a wavering bullpen was the back breaker for the Tigers as they allowed four runs in the top of the ninth inning stemmed from three walks and a crucial error leading to a 5-2 defeat.
Riverside was held to a season-low four hits.
