CYPRESS, CA – The Cypress College baseball team (1-1) picked up their first victory of the season in Saturday's matchup with Cabrillo College (1-1), 12-4. The Chargers entered the game ranked No. 3 in Southern California, while Cabrillo held a No. 6 ranking in Northern California.
Sophomore pitcher Riley Ohl (W, 1-0) earned the win for Cypress in his first start of the season. Ohl allowed just 2 runs on 2 hits, while notching 5 strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Cabrillos' Matt Roustelli (L, 0-1) received the loss after giving up 3 earned runs on 6 hits in 4.0 innings.
The Chargers, who struggled offensively with runners in scoring position on Friday, got it done with their bats on Saturday. Freshman centerfielder Jesse Lopez and sophomore catcher Dominic Campeau powered the Cypress offense. Lopez finished the day going 3-for-5 with 3RBI and 2 runs scored, while Campeau went 2-for-5 with 2RBI and a run scored.
Cypress put their first two runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Jack Gardner (0-for-2, RBI) hit a SAC fly to right field, scoring Eric Chavarria (2-for-3, RBI) from third. Pierson Loska (1-for-3, RBI) followed that up with another SAC fly to right that sent Lopez home, giving the Chargers a 2-0 lead. Cypress added on to their lead in the fourth when Griffin Hennessey (2-for-3, RBI) ripped an RBI double to centerfield, followed up by a hard hit RBI single from Chavarria to make it 4-0.
Cabrillo would answer with 2 runs of their own in the fifth, but Cypress sealed the deal with a big 5-run inning at the bottom of the sixth, where Lopez and Campeau did most of their damage. The Chargers would add 2 more insurance runs in the eighth to secure their first victory of 2018.
Cypress baseball is back in action when they travel to the 8th Annual David Buttles Memorial Tournament hosted by College of the Desert. The Chargers will open up tournament play on Thursday, Feb. 1 against the Palomar College Comets at 6:00 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.
