TWO OUT OF THREE SERIES WIN OVER ORANGE COAST

The FC baseball squad took the third and final game of the OEC series from Orange Coast on Saturday beating the Pirates 9-2.

It was a good series win for the Hornets as the team is in the midst of a tight Orange Empire Conference race with Santa Ana College (7-4), Golden West (7-4), and Saddleback (7-4) narrowly sharing the top spot. Fullerton (7-5), Orange Coast (7-5), and Riverside (6-6) are all next in line battling for the conference title.

FC did not waste any time in scoring as the team dropped five runs on OCC in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded, Trevor Schmidt worked the count for a walk that brought in Diego Franco. Rudy Gonzalez then knocked a single up the middle scoring Britton Beeson and Noah Rodriguez. Andrew Pyle hit a deep shot to center for a sacrifice fly that allowed Schmidt to cross home plate from third, and Jacob Larson got on from a Pirate error giving Gonzalez the chance to go home.

Orange Coast got on the board with a single run in the sixth when Koby Williams reached on a fielder's choice giving Taylor Takata the chance to score.

In the seventh, Fullerton's Britton Beeson hit his 6th homerun of the season- a two run shot that sailed well over the left field ivy.

Two more runs came across in the eighth for the Hornets when Landon Runge singled to center field plating Andrew Pyle. Runge eventually worked his way home on a wild pitch.

OCC scored a harmless run in the ninth on Taylor Takata's rip up the middle that scored Sebastian Moore.

Vincent Segovia (3-1) pitched a strong game earning his third win of the season for FC. He went 5.1 innings with 3 hits, 1 earned run, had 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts. Andrew Carren came in to pitch 3 innings with 6 hits against, 1 earned run, had no walks, and a strikeout. Ryan Franson finished off the game throwing .02 innings with no hits or runs allowed.

Up Next: The Hornets (19-12 overall, 7-5 OEC) hit the road this Tuesday, April 9th when they open a new OEC series with Irvine Valley College. Game time is at 2:00 pm.

*Photo by Jim McCormack