Farmer takes the broom out of the barn

The Saddleback baseball team swept past Irvine Valley College with a 7-2 win at Doug Fritz Field on Friday in Mission Viejo.  The Bobcats swept the Lasers 3-0 in the series to remain in first place in the Orange Empire Conference.

Saddleback turned to Ryan Farmer in the third game of the series and Farmer was on his game,  The righty from nearby JSerra High School pitched through the seventh inning in improving to 6-2 on the season.  Farmer gave up just one earned-run on five hits while striking out two in the game.  He gave way to the combination of Joshua Meekins and Arthur Liu, who finished off the Lasers.

Saddleback shot out of the gate, scoring five times in the bottom half of the first inning in taking a 5-0 lead.  The Bobcats had five hits and a walk in the inning, including four straight hits.  Luc Stuka opened the scoring when he singled with the bases loaded to score Jordan Dissin and Michael Davinni.  Later in the inning Saddleback had singles from Zachary Schwartzberg and Jason Hefft to open up a big lead.

Saddleback tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to open up a 7-1 lead.  Schwartzberg capped off the scoring when he singled home Stuka for the final Bobcat run.  He finished 2-for-4 with two RBI on the day.  

Saddleback is now 24-8 overall and 11-4 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Bobcats have a one game lead over Riverside City College, who they beat in a series earlier in the year. 

Saddleback has a week away from OEC play next week when they make their annual trip to the Central Valley.  The Bobcats will play games at College of the Sequoias on Tuesday (2:00 PM) and Wednesday (1:00 PM).