Bullpen Prowess and Offensive Surge Lift No. 8 Tigers to Victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Cypress | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 3 |
|
Riverside | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | X | 7 | 7 | 1 |
The long ball was the story early on as the Riverside City College baseball team hosted the Cypress College Chargers in the first game of a three game series and the final Orange Empire Conference (OEC) series of the regular season. While Cypress had the bats burning early, the Tigers exploded for five runs late in the game accompanied by strong bullpen pitching leading to a 7-5 win.
Freshman starting pitcher and ace Giancarlo Flores toed the slab for the opening game start and got off to a strong start early while keeping the Chargers off the board in the first three frames. He forced two double play balls in the first two frames to wiggle out of some trouble, but two Cypress round trippers later in his outing tagged him for four runs and forced an exit early.
Sophomore southpaw Ryan Hernandez entered the game in the top of the seventh and the tides shifted. He settled in nicely by retiring the side in order in his first inning of work and continued on to allow just a mere base hit the following inning. He fanned one batter in the seventh and leaned on diving catch from freshman second baseman Darius Price, which was ESPN top-10 worthy, to complete his second inning of action. Price was fully extended in the three-four hole to make the play.
After the third inning three-run blast from the Chargers, Riverside responded with two runs in the bottom half to trim the deficit to one run. Freshman third baseman Ignacio Alvarez led the inning off with a double to left center, backed by a walk from freshman right fielder Matthew Bardowell. Price dug in with two outs and barreled a double down the left field line to score two and bring the score to 3-2.
Cypress continued to rely on the long ball in the top of the sixth inning, but the run was nulled due to Bardowell's base running skills in the bottom half of the inning. Bardowell forced an errant throw from the Charger's catcher on a ball in a dirt that allowed him to scurry to third. The poor defensive skill was infectious on the same play as the bad throw trickled past the Charger's center fielder, allowing Bardowell to cruise home and bring the score to bring the score to 4-3.
Riverside captured the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning compliments of a two-RBI triple from I. Alvarez that shifted the momentum. Freshman left fielder Adrian Arechiga provided the final nail in the coffin by launching a towering two-run jack over the center field wall in the following frame leading to the 7-5 triumph.
Hernandez (2-0) earned his second win of the season after chucking 2.2 innings while scattering four hits, allowing one run in the ninth and punching out two. Freshman closer Luis Sakemi Sato pocketed the save in a third of an inning of work by forcing a game-ending ground out with the bases loaded to freshman shortstop Sebastian Flores.
Offensively, I. Alvarez went 3-for-4 with a double, triple and two RBI. He was the lone Tiger to record a multi-hit game.
