Pirates top Lasers in regular-season finale
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 1 |
|
Irvine Valley | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
IRVINE -- After a rough five-game stretch, the Orange Coast College baseball team ended the 2013 regular season on a strong note, topping Irvine Valley, 6-2, on Thursday at IVC.
Now the Pirates (22-14, 10-11 in the Orange Empire Conference) will have to wait and see where and when their playoff stretch begins. According to head coach John Altobelli, nothing is for sure at this point.
"We will just have to wait and see on Sunday when they do the seedings," Altobelli said. "People try to guess and predict, but I'll just wait and hear from the people that do it. I'm just glad we ended the regular season with a solid, all-around game -- something we haven't had in a little while."
Cody Bruder went 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for Coast, while Zach Nehrir added a two-run triple and scored. Three other sophomores -- Danny Jimenez, Manny Argomaniz and Ricky Navarro -- each had a hit, a run and an RBI for the Pirates.
That type of production was enough for starter Kyle Dowdy, who pitched 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts to pick up the win and improve to 6-2 for the season. After a scoreless frame by David Longville, Joe Reta came in and threw 2 2/3 innings of scoreless, hitless relief with two strikeouts to record his second save of the season.
After trailing 2-0 through five innings, Coast used an IVC error to its advantage and scored three runs (one earned) to grab the lead for good.
Jimenez ripped an RBI-single to center, Argomaniz provided an RBI-double and Navarro used a sacrifice fly to score OCC's sixth-inning runs.
In the ninth, the Pirates picked up some much-needed breathing room when Bruder lined a single to center and Nehrir added a two-run triple to close out the scoring.
Playoff seedings will be announced this weekend. Log on to www.occpirateathletics.com for the latest playoff information as it becomes available.
