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Photo courtesy of Don Hudson
Photo courtesy of Don Hudson

Gabaldon, Pirates edge Hornets, 2-1

COSTA MESA -- A pair of lefties kept the bats silent on both sides of the diamond, but in the end, it was Orange Coast College lefty M.J. Gabaldon who earned the win as the Pirates slipped past Fullerton College, 2-1, on Thursday at John Altobelli Park.

In a RARE Orange Empire Conference pitchers duel, the Pirates (18-10, 5-6 in conference) picked up a pair of runs over the first three innings and Gabaldon (3-2) made them hold up as he went eight-plus innings, allowing one run on six hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. On the side of the Hornets (15-15, 3-8), their lefty, Matt Romero (4-2) did everything he could to win a game for the guests, but ran into some bad luck. He went the distance, allowing two runs (one earned) on just four hits with three walks and three strikeouts, but takes the hard-luck loss. 

Coast grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first when Alec Gomez walked and went to second on a fielder's choice off the bat of Zach Dickason. A slow ground out moved up both runners and Gomez came into score on a wild pitch.

In the bottom of the third, Koby Williams singled to right, advanced to third on a errant pickoff attempt and scored on an RBI-single by Dickason for OCC's second, and final, run of the game.

Fullerton's lone run came in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Kaipo Haole, but Gabaldon avoided a big inning with a key strikeout to end the inning, leaving two Hornet runners in scoring position.

Both teams avoided a ton of hard contact from either offense, keeping the game 2-1 heading into the ninth.

Gabaldon went back out in the ninth in search of a complete game, but a single and a walk with nobody out ended his bid. Closer Dimond Loosli (fourth save) came in with runners on first and second with nobody out. A fly ball to right moved the lead runner up to third, but Loosli got Jimmy Blumberg on a called third strike for the second out. From there, pinch hitter Diego Franco hit a comebacker off of Loosli's glove, but the freshman righty stay composed and flipped the ball to first to end the threat and gave the Pirates their fourth conference win in a row. 

Game three of this series will take place at Fullerton College on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC will return to John Altobelli Park on Wednesday against L.A. Mission, also at 2 p.m.

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