Pirates scuffle at home again, fall to Gauchos, 7-3
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saddleback | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 1 |
|
Orange Coast | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 |
COSTA MESA -- The home struggles continue for the Orange Coast College baseball team following a 7-3 loss to visiting Saddleback on Saturday at Wendell Pickens Field.
The Pirates (21-9, 9-7 in Orange Empire Conference), who are now 7-6 at home (14-3 on the road), fell behind early and could not climb all the way back as the Gauchos (19-9, 11-5) maintain their spot alone atop the OEC standings.
Saddleback opened the game with a three-run first inning off of Pirate starter Art Vidro (4-3) and never looked back, tagging on another in the second. Vidro allowed four runs on six hits over just 1 1/3 innings before Spencer Moran was called in to slow the Gauchos down.
Moran pitched well, allowing just one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings and during that span, OCC began to chip away at the four-run deficit.
Coast had the bases loaded and nobody out in the bottom of the fourth inning, but Saddleback starter Eric Pierce (3-0) minimized the damage by inducing a run-scoring double play to make it 4-1 and allowed an RBI-infield single by Andrew Alvarez to make it 4-2.
In the bottom of the sixth, Chris Iriart, slugged his sixth home run of the season to make it 4-3, but Pierce shut the Pirates down the rest of the way, retiring 11 of the final 12 batters he faced en route to a complete-game victory. Pierce allowed just five hits over nine innings with no walks and six strikeouts.
OCC kicks off a two-game road stretch, beginning at Saddleback on Tuesday (2 p.m.) and at Fullerton on Thursday (2 p.m.). Coast's next home game will be on Friday (2 p.m.) against the Hornets.
