Pirates score four in the ninth to stun Cypress, 8-7

CYPRESS -- The Orange Coast College baseball team used an improbable four-run ninth inning to escape with an 8-7 win over host Cypress College in the Orange Empire Conference opener for both teams on Tuesday afternoon.

David Morgan went 5-for-5 with three RBI for OCC, while Tristan Hanoian went 3-for-3 with a home run, two runs and an RBI. Davis Delorefice added three hits and a run to a Pirate lineup that pounded out 16 hits.

The Pirates (14-3, 1-0) trailed 7-2 thorough four innings before scoring a pair of runs in the fifth trim the deficit to 7-4. An RBI-double by Murphy Stehly and a run-scoring single by Morgan helped begin the Coast comeback.

It stayed that way until the top of the ninth. There, with Delorefice on second and Hanoian on first, Stehly hit into a fielder's choice, but a wild throw by the Chargers' second baseman allowed Delorefice to score to make it 7-5.

After Tommy Williams walked, Tyler Lasch came through with a two-out single to right-center, scoring Stehly from second to make it, 7-6. 

That brought up Morgan, who added his name to the OCC record book after sending a 2-2 pitch into left field for his fifth hit, tying the game at 7. He became the 22nd player in school history to collect five hits in a game, the most recent coming in 2017 by J.T. Navarro.

After a hit-by-pitch by Javier Rosales loaded the bases, Ryan O'Halloran showed sound patience and earned a game-winning, RBI-walk to bring in Lasch with the go-ahead run for the Pirates.

Cole Van Den Helder picked up his first save of the season by pitching a scoreless bottom of the ninth, but the pitching hero of the game went to reliever Vince Inman (2-0). After Cypress jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, Inman quieted the Chargers (15-3, 0-1) the rest of the way, allowing no runs on four hits with no walks and five strikeouts over four innings to earn the win.

The Pirates and Chargers will continue this three-game series on Thursday at Wendell Pickens Field, beginning at 2 p.m.