Tigers Grab Ranked Cat Showdown
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#8 Riverside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 1 |
|
#3 Saddleback | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 2 |
No. 8-ranked Riverside City College kicked off Orange Empire Conference action Tuesday with a ranked battle with No. 3-ranked Saddleback College and came out on top 6-4.
The Tigers improve to 13-4 overall and start conference with a 1-0 record, while the Bobcats slip to 12-5 on the year, 0-1 in OEC.
RCC finished with nine hits, with three Tigers posting two hits in the game: Bubba Heidler (2-for-4), Ian Nguyen (2-for-4), and Marcus Moyer (2-for-3). Luke Medure (1-for-3), Alex Gamez (1-for-3), and Danny Inzunza (1-for-3) also had hits for the Tigers.
After finding itself trailing 3-0 after three innings, Riverside exploded for five runs in its next chance at the plate. With two outs and two runners on, Gamez drove in one run with a base hit to center field. A Saddleback passed ball scored another Tiger before Inzunza knocked an RBI single to left center. Moyer kept the RBI train running with a triple to right center to score Inzunza and then came home on a wild pitch to put the Tigers up 5-3.
The Bobcats took one back in the bottom of the inning, but Moyer scored some insurance in the top of the ninth after taking advantage of a Bobcat error to come home.
Jorge Rodriguez grabbed the win with five strikeouts, while Erik Rodriguez picked up his third save of the year with three strikeouts.
Riverside and Saddleback continue the three-game series on Friday – previously scheduled for Thursday but pushed back due to the impending rain. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.