Dons Bounce Back to Set Up Rematch with Palomar for State Title
IRVINE, Calif. - Santa Ana College Baseball has advanced to the final day of the 3C2A State Championships after dropping a game to Palomar by a score of 4-3 before bouncing back to eliminate Feather River with a 12-3 win on Sunday evening.
Despite a heroic effort out of the bullpen from Travis Bergmann, the Dons could not overcome an early 4-0 deficit.
Bergmann gave SAC a chance as he went six and two third innings, giving up just two hits and no runs while striking out four.
The only offense from the Dons came in the third inning when Aiden Marquez went deep to right centerfield, driving in all three of the SAC runs.
Santa Ana had their chance to tie the score in the eighth with one out and two runners in scoring position but a ground out and a strikeout put a damper on the comeback.
In game two, the Dons got off to another slow start until Feather River made their first error to help Barrett Ronson score the tying run in the fourth.
SAC took advantage of the miscue and added four more runs in the inning thanks to an RBI single from Nathaniel Williams and a two run homerun by Ben Melendrez.
The bats kept rolling for the Dons while Zach Ireland cruised to his eighth win of the year. The right-handed freshman fanned eight and gave up two earned runs in seven innings of work.
Jack Fishel wrapped things up for Santa Ana with two scoreless innings.
SAC now needs to beat Palomar twice on championship Monday to take home the title. First pitch will be at 11:00 a.m.
