Baseball still perfect through three

The Saddleback baseball team improved to 3-0 on Thursday with an 8-2 win at Mt. San Jacinto College.  The Gauchos opened an early lead and never looked back to remain perfect on the season.

Saddleback scored four runs in the first inning, opening up a lead that the Eagles could never overcome.  Kyle Candalla led off the game with a single before Andrew Wilson followed with a triple to score the first run of the game.   Wilson would score immediately on a wild pitch from MSJC starter Derek Smallen, which was just the beginning of problems for Mt. San Jacinto.  Two batters later, Eagle shortstop Bryan Derzerm committed an error on a grounder from Ryan Fitzpatrick and followed it up with another on a grounder from Brandon Heinrich, giving the Gauchos another opportunity with two runners on base.  Jared Donahoe made them pay, doubling to score both Fitzpatrick and Heinrich as Saddleback tallied four runs in the opening inning.

The Gaucho pitching staff was solid for a third straight outing, holding the Eagles to six hits while striking out eight.  Stephen Young (pictured) came on to releive starter Jordan Scheftz in the fourth inning, striking out three in two innings of work to pick up the win.  Logan Escudero pitched two flawless innings before Domnique Key pitched a perfect ninth as the last 10 batters for Mt. San Jacinto went down quietly.

Candalla, Heinrich, Donahoe and Dallas Dey all finished with two hits to lead the offense on a day where the MSJC defense committed four errors in the field.

Saddleback will look to improve on its good start on Saturday when it hosts Santa Barbara City College in a double-header.  The first pitch of the opener is scheduled for 1:00 PM.