Baseball chops down Sequoias in Easter Classic

The Saddleback baseball team won its second straight game in the Sequoias Easter Classic on Wednesday with a 17-3 win over College of the Sequoias.  Brett Barker had a big day, driving in seven runs.

Saddleback entered the tournament having scored just five runs in its previous four games but a road trip to the Central Valley seems to have been exactly what the doctor ordered.  The Gauchos have scored 30 runs on 34 hits in the first two games, including a dominating performance against the host school on Wednesday. 

Barker led the attack, finishing 4-for-5 with seven RBI in the game.  The big blast was a grand slam in the eighth inning for the final four runs of the game.  The performance lifted his team-leading average to .352 for the year and also gives him a team-leading 21 RBI.

Saddleback (17-10) trailed 2-1 after one inning before striking for six runs in the second inning.  Ryan Fitzpatrick led off with a solo home run before consecutive singles from Jack Kaloogian and Colby Schultz.  Kaloogian would score on a ground out from Dylan Diaz to give the Gauchos a 3-2 lead, but the inning was far from over.  The inning would continue with a double from Barker, a single from Cole Stanton and a single from Dan James before the Giants would finally record a second out.  Tuesday's hero Alex King then followed with a two-run double to give Saddleback a 7-2 lead.

Sequoias (14-13) would score a run in the bottom of the third inning before the Gauchos put the game out of reach in the fifth, scoring five more times for a 12-3 lead.  The inning included a hit batsman, a walk, a balk, a defensive error and four hits as Sequoias couldn't stop the bleeding.

Meanwhile, pitcher Cameron Aufderheide was solid on the mound, pitching seven innings in improving to 5-0 on the year.  The freshman surrendered six hits with no walks while striking out two against 28 batters.

The 17 runs were the most scored by Saddleback since scoring 25 against San Diego City in February of 2014.  The three-day event continues today at Bakersfield College at 12:00 PM.