Pirates come up short against Dons
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Santa Ana | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 12 | 3 |
|
Orange Coast | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 3 |
COSTA MESA -- There would be no ninth-inning rallies for the Orange Coast College baseball team this time as the Pirates lost to visiting Santa Ana College, 9-7, on Saturday afternoon at Wendell Pickens Field.
The Pirates (10-7, 1-1 in the Orange Empire Conference), fresh off of a 4-3 comeback win over Riverside two days earlier, found themselves again trailing by two runs in the ninth, but Dons closer A.J. Franks would fare much better than his Tigers' counterparts, holding Coast to a 1-2-3 frame to end the game for his fourth save of the season.
Franks, the third of SAC's three-headed bullpen monster that includes Daniel Ferrell and Derek Batuyong -- held the Pirates to just three runs (two earned) over the final 6 1/3 innings, allowing the Dons (11-3-1, 2-0) the opportunity to rally for the win.
Coast jumped out in front of Santa Ana, 4-1 after three innings. In the first, Robert Longtree walked and would eventually score on an RBI-single to right by Stefan Panayiotou. In the third, the Pirates used RBI-singles by Tommy Bell and Jack Kruger as well as a sacrifice fly by Panayiotou to grab their three-run advantage.
But the Dons responded quickly, scoring seven runs over the next three innings to take the lead for good.
Ferrell, who came into the game in the sixth, allowed one run on two hits in the sixth inning, but joined Franks to silence the Pirates' bats the rest of the way. In fact, nine of the next 10 OCC batters would be retired by Ferrell and Franks, including six straight by the Dons' closer, who picked up his fourth save of the season.
Bell finished the afternoon with two hits, a run and one RBI, while Cole Rutherford added two hits and a run. For the Dons, Tanner Negrette went 2-for-5 with a run and a three-run double. Nestor Linares added three hits, two runs and an RBI, while Frankie Nogales added two this, one run and two RBI.
The Pirates will return to action on Tuesday at Fullerton College, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC's next home game will take place on Tuesday, March 10 against Golden West, also at 2 p.m.
