ANOTHER WALK-OFF WIN!

The FC baseball team hosted Santa Ana College on Tuesday and took game one of the three-game series with a walk-off 7-6 win in 11 innings.

The Hornets have been on fire the past two weeks winning six out of their last seven games as the team fights for a playoff spot. According to the latest CCCBCA Coaches poll, FC is ranked 15th in SoCal, while Santa Ana is 6th.

The Dons took a 1-0 in the top of the first when Mario Tostado tripled to center field scoring Christian Thompson. 

FC's Britton Beeson hit his 9th home run of the season in the bottom of the first. It was a deep shot to left field that also brought in Tank Espalin. Beeson has hit a dinger in five out of the last six games with 16 RBI.

SAC's Mikey Rocha tied the game up at 2 apiece in the third inning knocking a single up the middle scoring Eddie Pelc.

Pelc got in on the RBI action in the fourth helping the Dons to a 3-2 lead with a ground out to third that allowed Jimmy De Anda to cross home plate.

Fullerton snuck a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fourth when Haku Dudoit reached first on Santa Ana fielding error that gave Jared Benash and Jimmy Blumberg the chance to score. Niko Santamaria then ripped a hard single to left center plating Landon Runge.

The Dons swung the momentum back in their direction in the fifth and sixth innings scoring three runs for a 6-5 advantage. In the fifth, Rocha singled to right field scoring Tostado. In the sixth, Tostado locked down a base hit to center that brought Thompson in, and Austin Haller hit a SAC fly to center giving Pelc a chance to go home.

In the seventh, FC tied the game once again thanks to Britton Beeson's grounded-out RBI to second that scored Niko Santamaria.

The game stayed knotted up at 6-6 until the eleventh inning. With the bases loaded, Diego Franco came up with a clutch bloop-single to center giving way for Santamaria to tap home plate for the victory.

FC pitcher Nathan McManus (2-0) was awarded the win throwing the final 6 innings with 4 hits against, 2 earned runs, had walks and 2 K's. Starting pitcher Deven Beasley went 3 innings with 7 hits against, 3 earned runs, had 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts.

Up Next: The Hornets (21-17 overall, 10-9 OEC) will play game two at Santa Ana College on Thursday, April 27th at 2:00 pm.

*Photo by Matt Brown