Tigers Sweep Panthers to Advance in 3C2A Postseason
After powering through to a dominant win yesterday, Riverside City College followed with an 11-3 victory over Chaffey College to advance in the 3C2A postseason.
The 13th-seeded Tigers improve to 27-15 and advance to next week's super regional, while the 12th-seeded Panthers end their season at 27-15.
Riverside finished with 13 hits in the game with Eddie Alfaro leading the Tigers with a 3-for-5 performance (three runs, one RBI). Richard Tejeda and Arturo Rodriguez each had two hits, while Parker Sobiesiak, Alex Gamez, Ian Nguyen, Logan Ortega, Marcus Moyer, and Gage Gonzales also had hits.
For the second day in a row, Chaffey got on the board first, scoring two runs in the top of the first, but just like it had the day before, Riverside had a response. With two runners on and two outs, Nguyen doubled to send both Tigers home to even the score.
The Tigers took the lead in the fourth, but the Panthers answered back in the top of the fifth to keep it tied, 3-3.
Riverside took back its lead and then some in the bottom half of the inning as Gamez walked in a run and Nguyen knocked in another RBI with a sacrifice fly, 5-3.
The Tigers were unstoppable from there and scored four runs in the seventh and another two in the eighth to put the game away.
Julian Cazares grabbed the win on the mound for the Tigers, tossing five strikeouts in 5.2 innings of action, while Matt Hudson came in on relief and also posted five strikeouts in 31. Innings to pick up his fourth save of the year.
RCC heads to top-seeded Cerritos College for the next round of the 3C2A tournament, with game times yet to be announced. The Super Regional begins Thursday and is double-elimination format with the Tigers, Falcons and eighth-seeded Long Beach City College each looking to keep advancing in the 3C2A tournament.