HORNETS TAKE GAME 1 FROM SADDLEBACK

The FC baseball squad bounced past Saddleback College 4-2 at home in game one of the OEC series Tuesday.

Saddleback launched an early attack scoring two runs in the first inning when J.C. Allen singled up the middle plating Makani Tanaka and Matthew Deutsch.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Hornets took advantage of a couple of Bobcat errors to score four runs. Andrew Pyle reached first on a fielding error that scored Trevor Schmidt and Ryan Kirk. Landon Runge hit a grounder to short allowing Pyle to score from third. Noah Rodriguez got on from a Saddleback error giving Jacob Larson a chance to cross home plate.

A strong pitching effort by FC starter Matt Romero along with relievers Andrew Carren and Ryan Franson nailed down the team's 17 win of the season. Romero got the win throwing 5 innings with 7 hits, 2 runs, had 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts. Carren came in to toss 2 innings with no hits, no runs, had 1 walk, and 3 strikeouts. Franson earned his fourth save of the season with 2 flawless innings. He had no hits, no runs, no walks, and 3 strikeouts.

Up Next: Fullerton (17-8 overall, 5-2 OEC) will head to Saddleback College on Thursday, March 21st for game two of the Orange Empire Conference series. The first pitch goes out at 2:00 pm.

*Photo by Matt Brown