By Wes McCurtis
CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College baseball team (27-12, 11-9 OEC) locked up third place in the Orange Empire Conference with a 9-6 win over the Saddleback Gauchos (24-15, 10-10 OEC) at home on Thursday afternoon.
Henry Martinez (4-3) picked up the win for Cypress after allowing 6 runs, including just 1 earned run, on 7 hits with 5 strikeouts in 8.0 innings on the mound. Freshman reliever, Jake Mahood picked up his third save of the season in 1.0 inning of work for the Chargers.
Cory Wildhagen (4-for-4, 2 RBI) and Logan Swofford (3-for-4) led the Cypress offense.
Saddleback's Chase Lyford (6-4) received a loss for the Gauchos. Lyford gave up 6 runs, including 3 earned runs, on 8 hits in 5.1 innings.
Cypress got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. Brandon Alamo (1-for-4, 2 RBI) drilled an RBI single to right field sending Willie Aguilar to third and Wildhagen home. Aguilar would score from third on an error by the second baseman to give Cypress a 2-0 lead.
The Gauchos answered with runs in the fourth and fifth innings to the tie the game at 2 apiece. However, the Chargers posted 2 more runs in the bottom of the fifth on a SAC fly from Garrett Calvert (0-for-3) and an error by the Gauchos' first baseman that sent Aguilar past home plate to re-take the lead, 4-2.
Saddleback continued to fight and capitalize on Cypress fielding mistakes. Tyler Clark (1-for-5) led off the inning and reached on an error by the Cypress first baseman. Clark moved to second on a SAC bunt from Zack Bowman (0-for-4, RBI) before Brett O'Toole (2-for-5, 2 RBI) drilled a 2-run shot over the left field wall that tied the game, 4-4.
The Chargers offense kept it going, posting 2 more runs in the sixth, followed by another 3 runs in the seventh to take a 9-4 lead. The Gauchos rallied to add 2 runs to their total after loading the bases with nobody out in the ninth, but Mahood got out of the jam to help earn a huge victory for Cypress.
No. 7 Baseball will wrap up the regular season on the road with a third and final game against No. 8 Saddleback on Friday, April 28 at 2:00 p.m.
Stay connected with the Chargers through social media. Follow Cypress College Athletics on Twitter @CypressChargers. Check in with the Chargers on Facebook/CypressChargers and on Instagram @CypressChargers.
