Pirates rally again to top Lasers, 7-3

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team is finding some late-inning magic as the Pirates made it two comeback wins in a row with a 7-3 victory over visiting Irvine Valley College on Thursday at John Altobelli Park.

The win not only gives the Pirates (7-12, 2-0 in the Orange Empire Conference) its first home win and first two-game win streak in over a month, it also gives the Pirates some much-needed confidence heading into the series finale at IVC on Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m.

The big blow at the plate came off the bat of J.T. Crabbe in the bottom of the eighth. With Coast holding onto a 4-3 lead, Crabbe came up after back-to-back hits from Owen Wessel and Ethan Brand and deposited a fastball over the left-center field fence, giving the Pirates some much-needed breathing room to make the comeback bid complete.

IVC (8-10, 0-2) led 1-0 early and after the Pirates tied the score in the fourth, the Lasers posted single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 3-1 advantage. Lasers' starter A.J. Roettger was lights out for the first five innings before getting into trouble early in the sixth inning, allowing a triple to Koby Williams, an RBI-bloop double to Sebastian Moore and a single to left by Tanner Gerosa, lifting him from the game. 

Cole Dietsch entered the game with runners on the corners and nobody out. Coast, a team struggling with bunting all season long, got the job done when Connor Debenon laid down a perfect safety squeeze bunt that scored Moore on the play, tying the score at 3. Taylor Takata followed with a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up and a few pitches later, that proved crucial as Gerosa would score from third on a wild pitch to give OCC a 4-3 lead.

Prior to OCC's comeback sixth, the game looked much different as the Pirates trailed 3-1 with runners on first and third with IVC slugger Shane Stafford at the plate. 

Outfielder-turned-reliever Keith Aguilar came in and forced Stafford into a harmless fly ball to left, ending the threat and keeping it a game within reach.

From there, Aguilar calmly went the rest of the way and pitched 3 1/3 innings of scoreless and hitless baseball with two walks and three strikeouts to earn the win for himself and for a Pirate squad desperate for quality relief work.

Jack Ross pitched four strong innings, allowing just one run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts, while Sawyer Spivey battled his way to allowing just two runs (one earned) with four crucial strikeouts with runners on base.

Crabbe finished 2-for-5 with a run and three RBI for Coast, while Moore added a pair of doubles, two runs and one RBI. Gerosa and Brand each had two hits and a run scored.

OCC will return to John Altobelli Park on Tuesday to open up a three-game series with Saddleback College, beginning at 2 p.m.