Pirates jump on Rustlers early, cruise to 7-2 win
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
|
Orange Coast | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | X | 7 | 13 | 2 |
COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team returned to Orange Empire Conference action on Tuesday and rolled past rival Golden West, 7-2, at Wendell Pickens Field.
With the win, Coast (28-7, 13-3 in OEC) remained in a tie for first place with Riverside City College after the Tigers posted a 1-0 win over Saddleback earlier in the afternoon.
Eric Wagaman went 3-for-4 with two runs and one RBI, while J.T. Navarro added three hits and three runs for the Pirates. Robert Teel came through with two hits and three RBI.
That Pirate trio provided enough offense for pitcher Kyle Robeniol (5-0) to take over from there. The OCC sophomore lefty pitched 7 1/3 innings and allowed one run on three hits with three walks and eight strikeouts in a 108-pitch performance. Austin Moore finished things over the final 1 2/3 innings to help Coast collect its 28th win of the season.
GWC starter Taylor Franzman (5-6) found himself in trouble early in this one as the Pirates loaded the bases with nobody out on singles by Navarro and Travis Moniot, followed by a Wagaman walk.
Teel took a curveball off the knee to bring in Navarro with a painful RBI, putting Coast up, 1-0. Ramiro Velasco followed with an RBI-single to left and Luke Hussung lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0, before Franzman wiggled out of further trouble.
From there, Franzman was strong over the next four innings before finding more trouble in the sixth.
With OCC ahead, 3-1, Jacob White and Navarro each singled before Wagaman lined a single to left to bring in White to make it 4-1. Teel followed with an RBI-single to right to make it 5-1 and before the inning was over, a first-and-third double steal brought home Wagaman to make it 6-1.
Teel capped off the Pirates' scoring with a two-out, RBI-double to left-center in the bottom of the eighth.
The Pirates and Rustlers will continue their three-game series on Thursday, at GWC, beginning at 2 p.m. with the series finale back at OCC on Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m.
