Baseball drains the Chargers

The Saddleback baseball team swept a double-header against Cypress College on Friday afternoon at Doug Fritz Field.  The baseball team won 4-2 and 16-2 to split the four-game series.

Saddleback bounced back from a humbling day on Thursday when just everything went wrong in falling to Cypress 17-4.  The baseball team never trailed on Friday, returning the favor to the Chargers.

In the opening game of the double-dip, Saddleback scored three times in the bottom half of the second inning and one more time in the third for a 4-0 lead.  It would prove to be enough as the pitching staff limited the Cypress attack to very few scoring opportunities.

Saddleback started the second inning with three consecutive singles from Robbie Weiskittel, Jackson Skellett and Jacob Naso to load the bases.  After a couple of east outs it looked as if Cypress would get out of a jam, but Tyler Chaffee and Christos Stefanos both singled and the baseball team had a 3-0 lead.

Saddleback tacked on another run in the third when Naso doubled home Izaiah Faz, who walked and later moved over to third base on a passed ball and wild pitch.

Saddleback used a committee approach on the mound, with Cameron Cooke starting and going two innings before giving way to Hunter Ash.  Ash would pitch the next three innings to pick up the win before Tanner Ivey and Ryan Farmer both pitched one scoreless inning.

In game two of the double-header, Saddleback made a complete mess of the Chargers.  The baseball team scored five times in the second inning and nine times in the sixth inning in taking a 14-2 lead into the seventh inning.  Saddleback had nine doubles in the game and sent 15 batters to the plate in the sixth inning. 

Cypress retired the first two batters in the bottom half of the sixth before Saddleback went on a rampage, all starting with an error on the Cypress center fielder.  Nation Wood hit a towering home run to right field in the inning while Brent Riddle, Tyler Chaffee, Luc Stuka, and Nick Dietsch all had doubles.  Wood finished the game 3-for-4 with five RBI and a walk in five plate appearances. 

The Saddleback pitching staff was every bit as impressive, stifling a Cypress attack that had 17 runs on 17 hits a day earlier.  Rhys Stevens (pictured) started and went six innings in improving to 2-0 on the season.  Stevens spread around four hits and struck out five before turning the ball over to the bullpen.  Ethan Holt, Connor Wilford and Hunter Cranton all pitched one inning of work to finish out the game, surrendering no hits over the final three innings.

Saddleback is now 8-4 overall and 4-2 in Orange Empire Conference play after the wins.  The baseball team will play a four-game series against inner-district rival Irvine Valley College next week.  Saddleback will play at IVC on Tuesday and Thursday before returning home for a double-header on Friday.