Gauchos to face old foe in opening round

The Saddleback baseball program will start the playoffs on Friday by hosting Riverside City College, a program from within its own conference.  The Gauchos and Tigers will meet for the 143^rd time on Friday in the opener.

Saddleback enters the playoffs as the top seed in Southern California, but will have to run the gauntlet if they are going to get back to the state tournament for the first time since winning the state title in 2004.  The Gauchos will open with conference foe Riverside, who edged Santa Barbara City College in an opening, play-in game on Tuesday (3-2). 

Saddleback faced Riverside three times this season, winning 2-of-3.  The Tigers opened with a 5-3 win on opening day of Orange Empire Conference play before the Gauchos bounced back with 17-4 and 8-1 wins.

Saddleback and Riverside have played 142 times since the program began, with RCC holding a 77-64-1 edge.  However, the Gauchos have a 9-3 record against Riverside over the past four seasons and are 10-5 since Sommer McCartney took over the program in 2012.

In looking at the numbers, Saddleback has an advantage on paper.  The Gauchos enter the playoffs with the No. 1 pitching staff in the state, boasting a 2.36 team ERA.  Saddleback is also ranked No. 4 in the state in batting average (.326) and No. 8 in fielding percentage (.968), making for a difficult challenge.  Riverside, conversely, is No. 14 in pitching (3.32 ERA), No. 61 in batting average (.267) and No. 42 in fielding (.956).  

However, as we have seen in recent years, none of these numbers mean alot once the playoffs begin, especially when the Orange Empire Conference is involved.  Last year Orange Coast College won the state title after starting Southern California Regional play as the No. 10 seed.  Two years earlier, Cypress College won the title after starting as the No. 9 seed.  The Gauchos, themseleves, were the ultimate dream-chasers in 2004 when entering the playoffs as the No. 13 seed, going on to win the state title.  In short, facing an Orange Empire Conference foe is a brutal task when it comes to the playoffs, and playing one that has already seen you three times can be even more dangerous.

The best-of-three series will start on Friday at 5:00 PM at Doug Fritz Field.  Game two is scheduled for 2:00 PM on Saturday with game three to follow, if necessary.  With weather forecasters predicting the possibility of rain, times are subject to change.  Keep track of the latest news or scheduling updates on Twitter by following the Gaucho Dude @SCGauchos