No. 3 SAC Baseball Make Statement with Sweep of No. 6 Riverside City
No. 3 Santa Ana baseball swept No. 6 Riverside City in a critical OEC series.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
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2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 12 | 0 |
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0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 0 |
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0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 1 |
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - In a battle between two top ranked teams in the state, No. 3 Santa Ana baseball swept the No. 6 Riverside City Tigers (22-9, 8-4) to take firm control of first place in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) standings.
The Dons (28-2-1, 11-1) won game one on the road after a dominant performance from sophomore pitcher Josh Rodriguez. The starter from La Serna High held the Tigers to just three runs while striking out as many in the first complete game of his collegiate career. Rodriguez improved to 4-0 with a 2.94 ERA after the win.
Offensively, Nathaniel Williams and Nikko Paoletto led the way with three hits a piece while Jack Mueller, Barrett Ronson and Treson Arita added key RBI.
Santa Ana returned home on Thursday for game two and delivered in the clutch to secure the series win.
Despite jumping out to 5-1 lead in the third inning, SAC found themselves trailing 7-6 headed into the bottom of the ninth thanks to six RCC runs.
But with their backs against the wall, the Dons fought back with some hits from Ronson and Paoletto followed by a sacrifice fly from Ben Melendrez and a walk by Carlos Morales.
With runners at first and second, Evan Reiter capped his productive three hit, two RBI day with a shot off the right centerfield wall to walk off the Tigers for an 8-7 victory.
Andrew Phillips had a quality start with three runs in six innings of work while Mathew Solorzano earned his fourth win as he struck out three and conceded just one run to finish the last two and two third innings.
The Dons went back to Riverside on Friday to finish the job in another highly competitive game.
With the score tied at 7-7, Melendrez and Morales came up clutch with back-to-back hits, bringing home three runs for SAC. The two sophomores combined for seven RBI in the series finale.
Colin Galvin closed the door in the ninth inning to finish an impressive performance from the Don bullpen. He joined Bruno Banuelos and Jack Fishel who threw up zeros after starter Zach Ireland left in the fifth inning.
Santa Ana now has a three game lead in the OEC standings and will take on the No. 8 ranked Cypress Chargers, who are tied for second place, next week.
