Gauchos blast Panthers for 14-2 start

The Saddleback baseball team has been on a roll in recent weeks and won its eighth straight game with a decisive 17-0 victory at Chaffey College on Tuesday.  The Gauchos hit three home runs in the game, including two from Connor Glenn.

Saddleback finished off its non-conference schedule with a convincing win on a cold afternoon in Rancho Cucamonga, collecting 19 hits on a day where the pitching limited Panther hitters to only three.  The Gauchos pulled out the big bats from the bag as Brett O'Toole hit his second home run of the season and Connor Glenn his second and third.

Saddleback scored solo runs in each of the first three innings and led 3-0 heading to the top of the fifth inning.  The Gauchos then exploded for three runs in the fifth inning and six more in the sixth, leaving no doubt as to the eventual winner.

O'Toole's homer came after consecutive walks to Mike Jarvis and Brett Auerbach to start the fifth inning and gave Saddleback a 6-0 lead.  Glenn got into the act in the sixth inning with a three-run homer of his own to extend the lead to 12-0.  He finished with a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning to increase the lead to 17-0.

Glenn finished 3-for-5 on the day with six RBI and two runs-scored.  O'Toole was 3-for-4 with four RBI and two runs-scored.  Auerbach remained hot with a 3-for-3 performance on Tuesday and is now hitting a team-high .490 for the year.  Turner Knight also got into the act, finishing 3-for-5 with two RBI.

As good as the offense was, the pitching was every bit its equal.  Ellis Jensen started and pitched six strong innings in improving to 2-1 on the year.  Jensen allowed three hits while striking out five in lowering his season ERA to 0.98.  The duo of Alex Kent and Zak Nocon pitched a nearly flawless three innings in relief, allowing only one base-runner.

Saddleback has the rest of the week off before starting Orange Empire Conference play next Tuesday at inter-district rival Irvine Valley College.  The Gauchos and Lasers are scheduled to start at 2:00 PM in Irvine.