Baseball magic number down to seven

The Saddleback baseball team lowered the magic number to win the Orange Empire Conference to seven on Tuesday with a 12-2 win over Orange Coast College at Doug Fritz Field.  The Gauchos are looking to win the OEC for the first time since 1998.

The last time Saddleback won the conference title, most of the players were still wearing diapers.  The Gauchos took off the kid gloves on Tuesday by punishing the two-time defending state champs in every aspect of the game.

Saddleback opened the scoring in the second inning when OCC pitcher Casey Costello committed an error, allowing Brandon Heinrich to score the first run of the game.  They extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth inning when Heinrich doubled home Jared Donahoe and later in the inning Robbie Biehl singled home Heinrich. 

Things went from bad to worse for Orange Coast when Saddleback scored six times in the fifth inning to put the game on ice.  The Gauchos had six hits in the inning coupled with two defensive errors by the Pirates, with the big blow being a two-run homer by Donahoe.  It was Donahoe's team-leading fifth home run of the season and gave Saddleback a 6-0 lead at the time.

The Gauchos would go on to score two more times in the sixth inning and once in the eighth, rapping out 13 hits for the game.  Bielh (pictured) was the offensive star, finishing 3-for-3 with four RBI.

The pitching was solid as John Sheaks pitched seven solid innings in improving to 6-1 on the season.  Sheaks surrendered five hits and one walk before turning the ball over to the bullpen.  Logan Escudero and Chase Lyford both pitched one inning in relief.

Saddleback (23-5, 11-2) now holds a two-game lead in the Orange Empire Conference with eight games to play after second place Fullerton College fell to Riverside City College on Tuesday (4-3).  The Gauchos will look to lower the magic number on Thursday when they travel to Orange Coast.  The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.