Pirates maintain atop OEC with sweep over Saddleback

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team is keeping the rest of the Orange Empire Conference in its rear-view mirror for the time being as the Pirates rolled past Saddleback in a doubleheader sweep on Friday at Wendell Pickens Field.

Coast won the nonconfereince opener over the Gauchos, 8-2, before winning the OEC nightcap, 13-6, to improve to 16-3-1 overall and 11-1 in the OEC. 

With the OEC win on Friday, Coast holds a two-game lead in the conference standings over second-place Cypress (13-7, 9-3) and a four-game lead over third-place Santa Ana (9-10-1, 7-5). Coast and Cypress will do battle this week in a crucial series on Tuesday and Thursday at Cypress College (2 p.m.) before heading to OCC for a Friday doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m.

Against the Gauchos, the top of the order was tops for the Pirates in the opening game. Ricky Teel went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI from the leadoff spot, while Jordan Ku went 3-for-4 with two runs and four RBI from the No. 2 spot. Jake Lappin went 2-for-3 with two runs as well for OCC as the Pirate bats provided enough offense for the pitching staff to do their thing. On a "staff day", Justin Goldstein picked up the win with three strong innings of work, holding the Gauchos to no runs on two hits with a walk and three strikeouts over three innings.

In the OEC nightcap, it was a battle of two strong pitchers through the first six innings as OCC's Kelly Austin and Saddleback's Rhys Stevens put on a show. Stevens held the Pirates to three runs over six innings, while striking out 11, while Austin held the Gauchos to just two earned runs over seven innings with a walk and six strikeouts. 

Once the Pirates got into the Gaucho bullpen in the bottom of the sixth, the roof caved in on the guests as OCC scored nine runs in the frame. Eleven straight batters reached base and the Pirates never looked back.

Jared Schatz went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI (including a leadoff home run), while Tatsuhori Negishi went 2-for-3 with a run and two RBI. Nolan Funke and Garret Barto each went 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI, while Cary Arbolida added two hits, two runs and an RBI. Brendan Guy anchored the bottom of the lineup with two hits, a run and two RBI as well, giving the Pirates an imposing lineup up and down the batting order.