Pirates take care of business, topple Vikings, 5-2

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College pitching staff kept the best players on Long Beach City College off of the bases and the result was a 5-2 nonconference win over the visiting Vikings on Tuesday at Wendell Pickens Field.

The pitching trio of Sam Eggenberg, Alex Shadid and Doug Magee held the first five batters of the LBCC lineup to a combined 0-for-21 with just one walk and five runners left on base, keeping the Vikings' offense quiet for most of the afternoon.

Eggenberg (1-1) pitched six strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Shadid was effective for a 1 2/3 innings before Magee notched his second save of the season, allowing a hit and a strikeout over the final 1 1/3 innings.

While the top of the LBCC lineup struggled, OCC's 1-2 punch of leadoff hitter Skylar Limonchi and Joey Fregosi combined for five hits, three runs and an RBI for the Pirates (4-2). Fregosi went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI, while Domenic Donato and Coby Kauhaahaa each posted multi-hit games for OCC.

An RBI-grounder by Donato and a sacrifice fly by Jacob Gentry pushed the Pirates to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Collin Perez lined an RBI-single to center in the top of the second to trim the Coast lead to 2-1.

OCC got that run back in the bottom of the third when Fregosi singled to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a wild pitch by Vikings' starter Joshua Rios (1-1), who allowed three runs on six hits over five innings.

It stayed that way until the top of the eighth, when Robert Funk lined an RBI-triple to left-center to make it 3-2.

But the Pirates pushed back in the bottom of the eighth when Clifford Pradd singled with one out and scored on a double to left field off the bat of pinch-hitter Josh Berman. Two batters later, Fregosi drove in Berman with an RBI-single to make it 5-2.

From there, Magee closed things out and preserved the win for the Pirates, who play at Palomar College on Wednesday (2 p.m.) before returning home to play Mt. San Antonio on Friday (2 p.m.).