Gauchos impale Knights for 2-0 start

The Saddleback baseball team improved to 2-0 on Saturday with a 10-1 win over San Diego City College at Doug Fritz Field.  The Gauchos scored four runs in the opening inning in cruising to the win.

Saddleback fell behind in the top of the first inning when San Diego City took advantage of a couple of walks from starter Connor Dand and managed a run when Blake Newman singled to right field for a 1-0 lead.  Dand got out of the inning when the next batter grounded into a double-play, but it was the first time Saddleback had trailed on the young season.

The Gauchos wasted no time in reversing the course, scoring four times in the bottom half of the inning for a 4-1 lead, and they did it all with two outs.  After the first two batters in the order were retired, Tyler Clark singled up the middle and quickly advanced to second when Newman threw wild to first base on a grounder by Erik Voller.  Adam Gordon followed with a double to right field and both runners scored, giving Saddleback a 2-1 lead.  Theodore Smith followed with a double of his own to left field that scored Gordon and Zack Bowman then singled to score Smith for a 4-1 advantage.

Dand then went back to work and looked more like the guy Saddleback expected to take the hill.  He struck out three of the next four batters over the next two innings before leaving the hill with the Gauchos leading 4-1 after three innings.

Saddleback extended the lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jerry Carrillo singled home Spencer Heinsius.  It was 1-of-2 hits on the day for Carrillo who has reached base in 6-of-8 plate appearances during the two-game set.

The Gauchos scored two more insurance runs in the fifth inning, one more in the seventh and added two more in the eighth.  The final run of the game came when Saddleback pulled off a double steal with Jordan Fitzgerald stealing second and Brett Auerbach stealing home.

Saddleback is now 2-0 for the season and will host San Diego Mesa College on Tuesday at Doug Fritz Field.  The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.