No. 3 Baseball Makes It Four-Straight against No. 11 Cypress in Super Regional Opener

It was the fourth time this season the Riverside City College baseball team and the Cypress College Chargers have squared off, but this time it came outside of Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play. The two juggernaut squads went head to head in the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) Super Regional round. The Tigers had everything working and battled towards a 6-4 victory.

The Tigers left 11 runners on base, but still managed to outscore the Chargers despite being shorthanded on the offensive front and being outhit 11-9.

Both teams traded blows in the opening frame as Cypress struck first, but Riverside responded in the bottom half with freshman shortstop Sebastian Flores and freshman third baseman Ignacio Alvarez sitting in scoring position. Freshman first baseman Daniel Garcia stepped in and launched a deep sacrafice fly to the center field warning track, plating Flores, to tie the game at one apiece.

Freshman right hander David Butler came out the following inning and tossed up his first scoreless inning by forcing his second double play ball in as many innings.

Riverside continued the following inning by leaning on the powerhouse bat of I. Alvarez as he launched his third homerun of the season, this one traveling over the left field wall, to hand the Tigers a 3-1 advantage.

Cypress stayed true to their approach by scoring another run in the top of the fourth inning, but the Tigers continued to match them by scoring another run in the bottom half. Freshman designated hitter Maxwell Shor scurried home on an error by the Cypress center fielder on a line drive shot from freshman left fielder Casey Murray.

The Tigers scored two more runs in the following two innings. Garcia continued to drive in runs with a bases loaded groundout in the bottom of the fifth, scoring freshman center fielder Julian Alvarez. Flores capped the Tiger scoring the following inning with a two out single through the left side, plating freshman catcher Daniel Briones, leading to a 6-4 lead.

Freshman southpaw Ryan Hernandez, who has not allowed a run just over four innings, continued his trend by tossing 2.2 shutout innings en route to three strikeouts. He found himself in a minor jam in the top of the ninth inning, by freshman closer Hayden Coon entered and recorded the final out via strikeout leading to the victory.

Butler (8-0) remains undefeated on the bump after tossing six innings and recording three punch outs. Coon earns his third save of the year in just a third of an inning of work.

Offensively, Flores went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored, while I. Alvarez went 2-for-3 with a two-run jack and two free passes coming intentionally. Freshman right fielder Adrian Arechiga barreled tow knocks as well.

Riverside will look to close out the series on Saturday, May 14 at 1 p.m.