Gauchos knock Olympians off pedestal
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
San Diego Mesa | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 2 |
|
Saddleback | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | X | 6 | 10 | 0 |
The Saddleback baseball team won its second straight game on Tuesday with a 6-2 win over San Diego Mesa College at Doug Fritz Field. The Gauchos took a lead in the second inning and never looked back in improving to 8-2.
Saddleback scored a pair of runs in the second inning when Mesa pitchers had some problems finding the zone. Casey Worden started the rally with a walk and immediately stole second base. Brett Barker then followed by reaching base on catcher's interference to give Saddleback runners on first and second with one out. Ryan Fitzpatrick then singled to left field to load the bases, setting the table for Alex King. The sophomore was promptly plunked by pitcher Ian Lutz, giving the Gauchos their first run of the game. Jack Kaloogian then followed with a sacrifice fly and Saddleback had a 2-0 lead it would never relinquish.
Mesa scored a run in the top of the third inning to cut the lead to 2-1 before Saddleback again answered with two more in the bottom half of the inning. Once again it was pitching that started the rally when Jared Donahue walked to begin the rally and advanced all the way to third base on a throwing error by Lutz. Dan James and Worden both followed with doubles to make the score 3-1 before Barker lined out to right field to bring home James with the fourth Gaucho run of the day.
Saddleback added insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings and left the rest up to the pitching staff. Jacob Worrell started and went 4.1 innings before giving way to Cameron Aufderheide. The freshman from Trabuco Hills pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his third win of the season in middle relief. Kyle Goodbrand, Jordan Scheftz and Domnique Key were stellar in the final 2.2 innings, surrendering just one hit while striking out three.
Saddleback finished with 10 hits on offense as eight of nine starters had a hit. Barker (pictured) finished 2-for-2 with two RBI to lead the Gaucho offense.
Saddleback is now 8-2 overall and has two more home games this week before heading into Orange Empire Conference play. The Gauchos will host Chaffey College on Thursday at 2:00 PM before hosting El Camino Compton Center on Saturday at 1:00 PM.