Corona's strong start helps lift Pirates past Lasers, 2-0
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Orange Coast | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 2 |
|
Irvine Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
IRVINE -- The Orange Coast College baseball team used an inspired pitching performance from Stephen Corona to turn away Irvine Valley College, 2-0, on Tuesday, in a crucial Orange Empire Conference matchup at IVC.
Corona, OCC's designated hitter, who made his first start of the season on the mound, threw eight shutout innings, allowing eight hits, no walks and three strikeouts to help the Pirates (20-12, 11-6 in conference) snap their three-game losing streak. Dominic Purpura tossed a scoreless ninth inning to collect his seventh save of the season.
In a game that turned into a true pitchers' duel, Corona out-performed IVC's Ryan Abady (6-3), who took the hardluck loss after throwing 8 1/3 innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
Coast picked up the only run it would need in the top of the third when Jeff Nellis singled through the left side and would score one batter later on an RBI-double to left-center off the bat of Robert Longtree.
In the top of the sixth, Tommy Bell led off with a walk. He stole second, advanced to third on a ground out by Corona and scored when a Nick Grimes grounder was misplayed by IVC third baseman Adam Vargas, putting Coast ahead, 2-0.
The Lasers (17-15, 7-10) threatened in the bottom of the seventh with back-to-back, one-out singles, but Corona struck out pinch-hitter Brett Hamilto and coaxed a two-out fly out to center by Clint Jack to end the threat.
The win keeps the Pirates one game behind Cypress (23-9, 12-5) for first place in the OEC standings with four games remaining and sets up a big pair of games with Golden West on Thursday (at GWC, 2 p.m.) and Friday (at OCC, 2 p.m.). GWC is tied with the Pirates for second place at 11-6 and is 19-13 overall.
