Pirates survive battle with Rustlers, win 13-12

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- It's always entertaining when the Orange Coast College Pirates and the Golden West College Rustlers get together for a baseball series and Tuesday's matchup was no exception.

The Pirate bats came alive late as they held off off a late GWC rally and prevailed, 13-12, at Fred Hoover Field.

Cary Arbolida, who entered Tuesday's game with a .619 batting average, actually RAISED that already-impressive number by going 4-for-5 (including two, two-run home runs) with three runs scored and five RBI for the Pirates (7-1-1 overall, 6-1 in Orange Empire Conference). Chazz Martinez went 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI, while Ryan O'Halloran had a triple, home run, two runs and two RBI. 

It was a low-scoring matchup through the first five innings with OCC trailing, 3-2. From there, it became a hitter's dream and a pitcher's nightmare for the next three innings as both teams traded blows back and forth.

In the top of the sixth, a Martinez walk was followed with a two-run shot by Arbolida that easily cleared the 417-foot mark in center field to give Coast a 4-3 lead. The Pirates used an RBI-grounder by Ricky Teel and a run-scoring single by Tyler Weaver to go up 6-3.

But the Rustlers (1-8, 0-7) responded with a solo home run and used a run-scoring wild pitch to trim their deficit down to 6-5.

OCC piled on five more runs in the top of the seventh, courtesy of an RBI-single by Martinez, another two-run HR by Arbolida, an RBI-triple by O'Halloran and an RBI-hit by Teel, putting Coast up, 11-5.

Once again, the Rustlers wouldn't go away and tacked on three runs in the bottom of the seventh to make it 11-8.

Some needed insurance runs came in the top of the eighth for the Pirates as Arbolida provided an RBI-triple and later scored on an RBI-single by pinch-hitter Garrett Bevacqua to go p 13-8.

Things got hectic for the Pirates in the bottom of the eighth as the Rustlers batted around in their frame and scored four runs to pull to within one at 13-12. But OCC reliever Brennen Farber wiggled out of a bases loaded, one-out situation with a 1-2-3 double play to end the threat with OCC still ahead by a run.

Apparently 13 runs was just enough as Farber worked around a leadoff hit-by-pitch to pick up the save, his first of the season.

Michael Rhylick picked up the win for the Pirates after allowing five runs on five hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. 

Game 2 of this week-long series takes place on Thursday at GWC, beginning at 2 p.m. before the series shifts to OCC for a 12 p.m. doubleheader on Friday (no fans allowed).