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In a close loss, the Pasadena City College Lancer baseball team loses to Merced College 12-8 at Brookside Park on Saturday, February 11, 2023. 

Merced instantly got their foot in the door and started scoring runs. In the top of the 1st inning, Nate Silva of Merced hit a home run over center field, scoring three runs, which put them up quickly, 3-0. 

Jaden Guzman of the Lancers was able to score the first run for PCC. He smacked a clean line drive to left field, for a single and allowed second baseman Ivan Barragan to score. 

Starting pitcher for the Lancers, Jackob Guardado pitched for about three innings before he was removed from the game. In his three innings of work, he finished with three strikeouts total, however, he seemed hesitant and nervous when Merced attempted to steal bases from him. 

The Lancers scored two runs by the end of the third inning, however, it wasn’t until the Lancers were up to bat in the fourth inning that the game really started to pick up. The crowd was on the edge of their seats in anticipation, hoping the Lancers would close the gap. . 

In the bottom of the fourth, Jack Esguerra of the Lancers hit a sacrifice fly, and Matthew Delgado, a prime batter for PCC also earned an RBI and more players advanced to more bases.

By the end of the fourth inning,  Merced led, 6-5. The Lancers were starting to get their footing, however, it was not enough to keep up with Merced, as they kept on scoring. 

“They did a good job and we didn’t do a good enough job,” The Lancer head coach Pat Mcgee said. “I thought our guys battled back from a poor start and we left a lot of guys on base. The bottom of our lineup was outstanding.”

In total, the Lancers brought in six separate pitchers throughout the game, while Merced only had three. The Lancers had 9 total strikeouts among their pitchers while Merced had 7.

“We gotta keep moving until someone does the job,” Mcgee said, “If you don’t you find someone that will hopefully get the job done.”

The Lancers played pretty well defensively. Other than the homerun that was surrendered in the first inning, the Lancers were able to keep the ball in the infield for the most part. 

On the offensive side, it was players like Matthew Delgado who shined going five for six, in his six at-bats. He was consistently hitting toward the outfield and was left on base five times. 

“I’m just trying to play hard,” Lancer’s third baseman, Jaden Guzman said, who was up to bat 5 times. “The most important thing for me is buying into the program and trusting what our coaches are teaching me. I struggled for a long time, and I just want to stick with it.”

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