Fast start leads to 8th straight win

The Saddleback baseball team won its eighth straight game with a 9-6 victory over Golden West College on Tuesday in Huntington Beach.  The Bobcats led 9-0 before hanging on for the win.

Saddleback has gotten a reputation for having big innings in 2022.  The Bobcats had another one on Tuesday in winning its 27^th game of the season.  Saddleback scored nine runs in the first three innings, with six of those runs coming in the third inning.

Saddleback sent 10 batters to the plate in the third inning, hammering out five hits and taking advantage of some pitching and defensive miscues.  The final four runs of the inning were unearned after a two-out error on the Rustler defense gave Saddleback new life.  The Bobcats responded with a two-run single from Michael Davinni before both Jordan Dissin and Davinni scored on consecutive wild pitches for a 9-0 lead. 

Golden West pecked away at the lead and got themselves back in the game in the bottom half of the fifth inning when they scored four runs to cut the lead to 9-5.  The Rustlers would add one more run in the bottom half of the sixth to get within three runs before the Bobcats went to the aces in the bullpen.

Saddleback brought in Joshua Meekins in the eighth inning and then went to Arthur Liu with one out in the ninth inning to stifle the comeback.  The duo (pictured) struck out four Rustler batters in the final two innings in preserving the win.  Meekins now has a 1.14 ERA for the season in 23.2 innings of work, striking out 22 in the process.  Liu has a 0.93 ERA with a team-high seven saves through 19.1 innings of work (24 k's).  

Saddleback pounded out 13 hits on offense to go along with eight walks handed out by the Golden West pitching staff.  Michael Davinni and Lance Gardiner both reach base four times, with Gardiner finishing 3-for-4 with a home run, two RBI and two runs-scored.

Saddleback is now 27-8 overall and 12-4 in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play following the win.  The Bobcats have a one game lead over Riverside City College in the OEC standings with five games remaining.   It was the eighth straight win for Saddleback, which is the longest win streak for the program since winning nine straight games during the 2018 season. 

Saddleback and Golden West will resume the three-game series at Saddleback on Thursday.  The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM. 

GAME NOTES:  Saddleback is now 25-0 on the season when they finish the seventh inning with a lead. Lance Gardiner had a home run in the game, becoming the ninth member of the team to homer in 2022.