Baseball wins fifth straight
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saddleback | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 14 | 0 |
|
Santa Ana | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
The Saddleback baseball team won its fifth straight game with an 11-4 victory over Santa Ana College on Monday at Santa Ana. The Bobcats also improved to 4-0 in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) play.
Saddleback and Santa Ana moved the game up a day in order to avoid the storm that is scheduled for Tuesday. The Bobcats responded well, turning back the Dons to remain in a tie for first place in OEC play.
Saddleback struck for two runs in the opening inning when Jason Hefft singled home both Michael Davinni and Isaiah Morales for a 2-0 advantage. The Bobcats extended the lead to 7-1 in the top half of the fifth inning as Hefft again doubled in the inning to take advantage of a pair of Santa Ana errors in the field.
Hefft had a big day for Saddleback, finishing 4-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI. He later singled in the top half of the ninth inning when the Bobcats tacked on four runs to take an 11-4 lead.
Arthur Liu started on the mound and pitched through the sixth inning in improving to 5-1 on the season. Liu struck out six while walking just one before turning the ball over to the bullpen. The combination of Ryan Cullinane, Blake Butcher and Nathan Helman gave up two hits over the final three innings in preserving the win.
Saddleback is now 16-3 overall and 4-0 in Orange Empire Conference play. The Bobcats are tied with Riverside City College atop the OEC standings while Santa Ana (12-8, 2-2) fell into fourth place in conference play with the loss. The two teams will resume the series on Thursday at Santa Ana at 2:00 PM.