Nguyen Comes In Clutch to Advance RCC
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#12 Riverside | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | 2 |
|
Antelope Valley | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 12 | 1 |
Going into Saturday's 3C2A SoCal Regional Round 1 finale, No. 12-ranked Riverside City College had no intention of playing two games. Despite going down by three runs late in the game, it was never a matter of if the Tigers would come back, it was a matter of Nguyen.
Not once, but twice, Ian Nguyen (2-for-5) came up clutch for the Tigers to help Riverside grab a 10-8, extra-inning victory over Antelope Valley College and send RCC to the second round of the Regional.
The Tigers improve to 30-12 on the year with the win, while the Marauders end the season at 27-15.
Trailing 8-5 heading into the seventh inning, Riverside scored two runs to cut the deficit to just one. With one out and a runner on, Parker Sobiesiak (2-for-6) knocked in one run before coming home on a Dane Lujan (1-for-2) single, 8-7.
AVC looked like it might increase its lead in the bottom of the seventh, but Dylan Escobar struck out two batters to keep the score within one.
With two outs and a runner on in the top of the eighth, Nguyen stepped up to the plate and blasted an RBI single through the left side to tie the game and give new life to the Tigers.
Neither team could send anyone home in the ninth, sending the game into extra innings but RCC came out determined to put the game away. After Eddie Alfaro (1-for-4) walked, Nguyen doubled to left center to send Alfaro home for the go-ahead run and then scored on another Sobiesiak RBI single to tack on some insurance, 10-8.
Escobar then locked down the Tiger defense in the bottom half of the inning with two grounders and a strikeout to secure the victory. He finished with five strikeouts in four innings to pick up his fourth win of the year.
Sixth-seeded Riverside heads to the second round of the SoCal Regional next week, held Thursday through Saturday. Third-seeded Palomar College will host the double-elimination round after battling Pasadena City College in three games. No. 15 seed San Diego Mesa College will also be competing for a chance to advance in the tournament.