Pirates rally, but Hornets prevail, 8-7

COSTA MESA -- In a matchup between two of the top-ranked baseball teams in Southern California, Orange Coast College came back from a five-run deficit, only to see Fullerton slip out of Wendell Pickens Field with an 8-7 win on Tuesday.

The top-ranked Hornets (22-7, 12-2 in Orange Empire Conference) padded their lead atop the OEC standings and are now four games ahead of the Pirates (20-8, 8-6) with just seven games remaining.

Coast trailed Fullerton 7-2 after the second inning, only to answer with two runs in the fourth and three more in the seventh to tie the game. However, the Hornets used a crucial error to plate the eventual winning run in the top of the eighth.

The Pirates outhit the Hornets 12-11 in the game, but some unfortunate bounces and some key errors proved too costly for the hosts to overcome.

"It was great to see us rally from behind like that, but we made some mistakes that good teams like Fullerton are going to take advantage of," OCC head coach John Altobelli said. "We gave them extra outs and they (the Hornets) used them well."

Coast grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Manny Argomaniz (2-for-4, two runs) singled, went to second on an error and scored on a double to right-center by Danny Jimenez. Cristian Salina came through with a double to right to plate Jimenez for Coast's second run of the frame.

But the Hornets responded in a BIG way in the top half of the second, sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring seven runs (two earned). A dropped foul pop up and a sun-aided double helped pave the way for Fullerton's run barrage. Garrett Donahoe (2-for-4, one run, two RBI) and Nick Gotta (1-for-2, one run, two RBI) each collected two-run doubles in the fame, while Jose Rojas (3-for-5, one run, one RBI) and Paul Frias added RBI-hits as well.

OCC reliever Dallas Draviczki (2-1) came in and shut down the Hornets for five straight innings, allowing the Pirates to crawl back into the game before allowing an unearned run in the eighth for the hard-luck loss. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed just three hits with two walks and three strikeouts.

"Great job by Dallas today," Altobelli said of Draviczki. "He struggled of late and to see him come in and get the job done was nice to see. It was a gritty performance and he deserved a better outcome."

In the fourth Coast chipped into the deficit when Salina doubled with one out, advanced to third on wild pitch and scored on an RBI-single by Jacob Hill. Tucker Chadd drove in Hill with an RBI-triple to center to make it 7-4.

Salina, who finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, nearly drove in two more runs in the fifth when he ripped a line drive into deep short with two outs, but Rojas laid out and made a huge diving catch with runners on second and third, keeping the score 7-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, Zach Nehrir led off with a walk, advanced to second on a single to left by Argomaniz and scored on an RBI-single by Jimenez (2-for-5, two runs, two RBI) to make it 7-5.

Cody Bruder came through with a two-out single to right to score Argomaniz to make it 7-6 and Hill followed with a game-tying single to left to score Jimenez to make it 7-7.

But in the top of the eighth, a routine grounder to third off the bat of Ryan Joyce thrown away for an error and Dakota Wix (3-for-5, one RBI) cashed in that mistake two batters later with an RBI-single to right, putting the Hornets up for good.

Despite allowing three runs in two innings of work, Sean Michel picked up the win and improved to 3-0 for the season. Closer Jacob Miller used some stellar Hornet defense and threw two scoreless innings to pick up his third save of the season.

The Hornets and Pirates wrap up their season series on Thursday at Fullerton College, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Tuesday against Riverside City College, also at 2 p.m.