Gauchos enjoy double-double on Saturday

The Saddleback baseball team picked up two wins on Saturday at Doug Fritz Field to improve to 9-4 on the season.  The Gauchos defeated Compton College in the early afternoon, 12-7, before beating Southwestern College in the evening, 15-5.

It's rare that a team plays many double-headers in a season, and even more rare when they do it against two different teams.  For the second time in less than two weeks the Saddleback baseball team has done just that, beating multiple programs in a day.  The Gauchos took out some angst on Compton and Southwestern on Saturday, outscoring the two programs 27-12 in the process.

Saddleback fell behind in game one before rallying for four runs in the bottom half of the fourth inning in taking control.  The Gauchos would end up wearing out the Tartar pitching staff, finishing with 18 hits and five walks in turning a close game into a comfortable win.  Riley Kasper (pictured left) was the big star on offense, finishing 4-for-5 with three RBI in the victory.  Six different Saddleback hitters finished with at least two hits apiece while Reed Beverly hit his team-leading second home run of the season in the opening inning.  The pitching staff took a committee approach, with Nick Anz caming on in relief in the fourth inning and pitching through the sixth in picking up his first win of the season. 

Game two was never in question from the outset.  Saddleback scored five times in the bottom of the first inning in taking a big lead and never looking back.  The Gauchos would score another four times in the bottom of the fifth inning to increase the lead to 9-0.  Saddleback took advantage of a Southwestern pitching staff that couldn't find the strike zone.  The Gauchos were given 11 walks by the Jaguar staff, also collecting 10 hits.  Willie Lajoie broke out of a mini-slump with two hits in four at-bats while driving in four runs.  The pitching staff was in complete control as Matt Comnos, Wyatt Boone, Hunter Ash and Noah Moya combined for 16 strikeouts in the win.  Comnos (pictured right) started and pitched five innings, striking out nine Jaguars in improving to 1-1. 

Saddleback improved to 9-4 on the season with the two wins on Saturday.  The Gauchos have two more home games this week before heading into Orange Empire Conference play the following week.  Saddleback will host Los Angeles Harbor College on Monday at 3:00 PM before hosting Cuesta College on Tuesday at 3:00 PM.