WHITTIER – Diego Flores went 3 for 3 and Dylan Schumacher smacked a solo home run to help lead Rio Hondo College to a 7-3 victory over visiting Imperial Valley College on Friday at The Jungle in both teams' 2023 season opener.

Joseph Russo overcame a shaky first inning and went on to pitch five strong innings, striking out 7. He allowed 1 run and 4 hits on his way to the opening-day victory.

Ryan Perez (1.1 innings), Isaac Pinedo (0.2), and Nicolas Masucci (1.0) all had scoreless relief appearances for the Roadrunners.

Rio Hondo totaled 8 hits in the contest. Jonathan Zarate and Aaron Gutierrez both hit RBI singles while the Roadrunners tallied three runs thanks to Imperial Valley wild pitches.

Rio Hondo and Imperial Valley return to the field on Saturday (Jan. 28) at noon to wrap up a two-game, opening-weekend series.