Pirates top Rustlers to earn share of OEC crown!

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Jacob Hill earned his 10th win of the season, leading the Orange Coast College baseball team to an 8-3 win over Golden West College, earning the Pirates a share of the Orange Empire Conference title with Santa Ana.

The Pirates (27-9, 14-7 in OEC) and the Dons (25-11, 14-7) finished tied atop the conference, but with a 2-1 edge in the head-to-head matchups, Coast will earn the higher seed for the upcoming Southern California Regional playoffs, which kick off on May 2 at Wendell Pickens Field. Seedings will be announced this weekend.

"I'm extremely proud of these guys for hanging in there throughout this season," OCC head coach John Altobelli said. "It's been an up-and-down conference run for us, but we were able to get out of our funk and play some very solid baseball down the stretch. In a conference this tough, being a part of the conference title is always something special."

As for Thursday's win, Hill (10-0, 1.33 ERA) became just the third pitcher in the state this year with 10-or-more wins, joining College of the Sequoias' Dylan Lee (11-0, 2.49 ERA) and Oxnard's Luke Eubank (10-0, 0.77 ERA).

The usually-impatient Pirates took advantage of some wildness from the Rustlers (15-21, 6-15), adding seven walks to go along with eight hits. 

Robert Longtree delivered the biggest hit of the afternoon for the Pirates. Leading 5-1 with the bases loaded, Longtree ripped a three-run triple to right-center, blowing the game wide open.

Jake Thumm used a swinging bunt, an infield sacrifice fly and a bases-loaded walk and turned them into three RBI for the Pirates, while Cody Bruder had two hits and a run scored.

Hill pitched six effective innings and allowed one run on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts.

The OEC title is the 18th in OCC baseball history. Coast will also be making its 10th consecutive playoff appearance.