Pirates fall to Hornets in 10 innings, 5-4
FULLERTON -- The bad news for the Orange Coast College baseball team is this -- another ragged performance after an inspired win left the Pirates on the losing end of a 5-4, 10-inning matchup with Fullerton College on Thursday.
The lone piece of good news is this -- all of the other teams are going through the exact same situation so as it stands through four games, there is an EIGHT-WAY TIE for first place at 2-2, making this one of the more bizarre starts to conference play anyone has seen around here in some time.
"This is anyone's conference to win -- no doubt about it," said head coach John Altobelli. "In our situation, we haven't been able to play all areas of the game well enough in order to win consistently. I guess there's a lot of that going around in our conference."
One thing that WAS constant for the Pirates (14-5 overall) was their ability to score runs in OEC play, but the bats were quieted on Thursday to just five hits and four runs. Zach Nehrir was the lone Pirate with more than one hit, going 2-for-5.
Trailing 3-1 heading into the eighth, Coast took advantage of a walk and a couple of Hornet errors to load the bases with nobody out. A sacrifice fly by Danny Jimenez, a run-scoring passed ball and a squeeze bunt by Anthony Virgen pushed in three runs without a hit, giving Coast a 4-3 lead.
But the Hornets (10-6 overall) managed to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth when Dakota Nix came through with an RBI single to left, scoring Nick Gotta.
After a scoreless 10th for the Pirates, the Hornets used a squeeze bunt of their own by Uriel Salina to bring in the winning run.
OCC returns to Wendell Pickens Field on Saturday to host Riverside City College, beginning at 12 p.m.
