Baseball Bags Sixth Straight Win Leading into Conference Play

The Riverside City College baseball team had to wait a week to play the Southwestern College Jaguars after postponing its showdown due to rain, but both teams finally met last Sunday in  non-conference action. The Tigers continued to roll as they snagged their sixth-consecutive win with early offense and quality pitching.

It was all Riverside from the jump as they plated the first run of the game in the top of the first inning and never looked back. Sophomore shortstop Sebastian Flores drove in the opening run via double, plating sophomore right fielder Matthew Bardowell who reached on a fielder's choice, to snag a 1-0 lead.

Sophomore starting pitcher David Butler toed the slab and got off to a strong start by blanking the Jaguars in the first two frames. He fanned two batted in the first inning two work out of a mini jam, backed by retiring the side in order in the second capped by a punch out.

Riverside and Southwestern matched each other in the run column in the third inning as Bardowell launched a two-run jack with one out, sending home sophomore center fielder Casey Murray Jr.

However, two runs from the Jaguars in the bottom half of the frame halted the Tigers from gaining any further ground.

That would soon change as the Tigers scored a run each in the fourth and the fifth inning starting with a RBI double off the bat of freshman third baseman Jerrad Gonzalez, scoring sophomore left fielder Adrian Arechiga. Sophomore catcher Rei Shobuya followed the next inning by squaring up a RBI single, allowing Bardowell to cross the plate leading to a 5-2 lead.

Riverside added one more run in the top of the seventh inning to put the final nail in the coffin. Murray Jr. led the inning off with a single and promptly swiped second. He came around to score a batter latter compliments of a pinch hit, RBI single from freshman Dominic Dominguez.

Sophomore Albert Roblez (2-0) earned the win after relieving butler in the top of the fifth inning. He chucked two innings while allowing a mere hit and fanning two batters. Freshman duo Dakota Gray and Matt Hudson followed in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively, while sophomore Rheego McIntosh closed out the bottom of the ninth that featured two strikeouts.

Three players finished with multi-hit games highlighted by Bardowell's 2-for-3 day at the dish featuring a homerun. Murray Jr. went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored, while Flores went 2-for-4 with an RBI.