Bobcats generate Cole-powered win

The Saddleback baseball team won the rubber game of a three-game series with Riverside City College by virtue of a 7-4 win on Saturday in Riverside.  The Bobcats continued to ride the hot bat of Cole Koniarsky, who drove in three runs in the win.

Koniarsky has been rolling and kept his recent hot streak going on Saturday.  He finished 3-for-4 on Saturday and went 6-for-12 with a grand slam and eight RBI in the series.  On Saturday he drove in the first two runs of the game when he singled home Jacob Naso and Jason Hefft for a 2-0 lead in the third inning.  He then gave the Bobcats a 4-0 lead an inning later when he singled home Naso.  Koniarsky also walked in the seventh inning and added a single in the eighth inning, reaching base four times for the day. 

Despite all of the heroics from Koniarsky, the biggest cheer from the dugout came when Luc Stuka blasted a ball over the center field fence to start the fifth inning and put the Bobcats up 5-1.  It was Stuka's third home run of the season. 

Saddleback received a solid start on the mound from Ryan Farmer, who pitched through the sixth inning in picking up his first win in over a month.  Farmer gave up one earned-run on five hits while striking out five in improving to 4-2 on the season.  The Bobcats had a 7-1 lead heading into the bottom half of the seventh inning before hanging on for a 7-5 win.  Arthur Liu came on to close the door on the Tigers in the bottom half of the ninth inning.  After getting himself in a bit of a jam, Liu struck out Beau Betten for the final out of the game for his fourth save of the season.

Saddleback is now 15-5 overall and 2-1 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats will start a three-game series at Orange Coast College on Tuesday at 2:00 PM in Costa Mesa.  Saddleback will host the Pirates on Thursday at 2:00 PM before traveling back to OCC on Saturday for a 12:00 PM start.