Bobcats exterminate the hive

The Saddleback baseball team registered a shutout with a 14-0 whitewash of Fullerton College on Saturday night at Doug Fritz Field.  It was the second straight shutout for the Bobcat pitching staff.

Saddleback and Fullerton pushed the start time back to 4:00 PM in an attempt to let the field dry out from all of the rain on Friday night.  The Bobcats responded well, dominating from start to finish.

Saddleback scored in five of the first six innings as the Fullerton pitching staff had a tough time getting outs.  The Bobcats tallied 15 hits in the game and outhit the Hornets 43-16 throughout the three game series.

Saddleback had five players with multiple hits in the game, with Jacob Naso going 3-for-3 and Michael Davinni 3-for-4.  The Bobcats also had a big home run from Ben Castelli in the eighth inning to stretch the lead to 14-0.  It was Castelli's team-leading sixth home run of the season.

Saddleback received a sensational start from C.J. Zwahlen, who pitched through the fifth inning in improving to 2-0 on the season.  Zwahlen struck out four while surrendering two hits before leaving with an 11-0 lead.  The Bobcats then used Will Girardi, Joshua Meekins, Tommy Di Landri and Christian Finnigan for an inning apiece.  Saddleback pitchers gave up just four hits all night while striking out eight.

Saddleback is now 15-3 overall and 3-0 in the Orange Empire Conference.  The Bobcats are tied for first place with Cypress College and Riverside City College through one week of conference play.

Saddleback will play a three-game series with Santa Ana College next week.  The Bobcats will be on the road on Tuesday and Thursday before returning home on Friday to host the final game of the series.

The back-to-back shutouts against Fullerton were the first back-to-back shutouts for the program since 2014.