After a rough outing versus Mt. San Jacinto on Feb. 20, the men’s baseball team rebounded nicely with an 8-5 win over Ventura last Thursday before losing in dramatic fashion to Rio Hondo 3-2 over the weekend.
Paul Christian and Brandon Benson helped the Lancers sink the Ventura Pirates in the 11th inning.
With two men on base with two outs, freshman Paul Christian lifted the ball to right field for a sacrifice fly, giving PCC the 6-5 edge. Left fielder Brandon Benson padded the lead as the next batter up with two-run double.
Despite the bats cooling down as of late, the Lancers are still ranked 9th overall in batting average.
“We’re gonna win and win often,” said first baseman Joe Quire. “Of course we’ll make mistakes but we’ll move on.”
It is the second game this season that needed to be decided beyond regulation and is the second longest game the Lancers were involved in this season. PCC’s bout versus Cerro Coso lasted four hours while the battle with Ventura College lasted 3 hours and 36 minutes.
After a rough outing versus Mt. San Jacinto on Feb. 20, the men’s baseball team rebounded nicely with an 8-5 win over Ventura last Thursday before losing in dramatic fashion to Rio Hondo 3-2 over the weekend.
With the win, the Lancers improve to 4-1 on the season when scoring in the first inning.
Letterman relief pitcher Anthony Mizrahi got his first win of the season, allowing one hit and struck out two batters in three innings pitched. Sophomore Carlos Soto, was on the losing end, allowing three runs on five hits.
Pasadena’s freshman designated hitter Jeremy Conant enjoyed a nice day at the plate, registering four hits in six plate appearances. He has a .419 batting average and is second on the team in RBIs with 12.
Freshman pitcher Jared Tietgen marveled at and praised Conant’s skill set.
“His whole approach to hitting is amazing,” said Tietgen. “He’s one of the most disciplined hitters I’ve been around and it’s fun to watch him.”
In addition to his hitting, Conant has showcased great plate discipline. He has the lowest strikeout rate on the team and has drawn three walks this season.
In the Saturday match-up versus Rio Hondo, the pitchers came out to play by shutting down batter after batter in rapid succession.
After allowing Rio Hondo to put up two runs on the board in the first inning, pitcher Jared Tietgen composed himself and pitched five innings.
“He struggled the last couple of games but he proved that he can get things done,” said sophomore Isaac Holguin.
Roadrunners pitcher Brady Carlson went 7 innings while striking out 6 batters.
The Lancers offense did their job of digging themselves out of trouble, fighting to a tie heading into the final inning of the ball game.
Lead-off hitter Alex Briggs found a gap between second and third base, bringing home third baseman Sean Fassler.
In close games, teams will wait for the other team to make a mistake and capitalize on it.
PCC was unfortunately the team that faltered in the end, allowing Rio Hondo to win in walk-off fashion.
After getting on base with a double, catcher Danny Marquez scored on single by center fielder David Ornales that was mishandled by PCC’s first baseman Joe Quire.
The Lancers fall to a 5-4 record and get swept in the season series versus Rio Hondo.
PCC travels to Glendora on Tuesday to play Citrus College. The Owls are winners of three straight games and have outscored opponents 29-11 during that stretch.
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