Carrillo helps Gauchos end slide

The Saddleback baseball team ended a four-game losing streak with a 5-2 win over Fullerton College on Thursday at Doug Fritz Field.  Jerry Carrillo had a big day as the Gauchos said goodbye to an old friend.

Saddleback started the afternoon by saying so long to Blair Sharp, a long-time fan of the program.  Sharp has served as an assistant to the equipment managers for eight years and with his family moving to Maine the Gauchos made a special day of it and let him throw out the first pitch (picture below). 

Saddleback served Sharp a great going away gift by scoring an important win over Fullerton.  Carrillo was instrumental, finishing 2-for-3 with two RBI and hitting his first home of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Gauchos a 2-1 lead.  It was great revenge for Carrillo, who hit a ball over the right field fence in the second inning that appeared to be a home run, only to have the umpire call it foul. 

Saddleback would add solo insurance runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings while pulling away from the Hornets.  Carrillo's single in the eighth inning drove home Erik Voller for the final run of the game before Bradley Spooner closed out Fullerton in the ninth inning for his fifth save of the season.

Chase Lyford had a solid performance on the hill in getting the start on Thursday.  Lyford pitched 5.1 innings, with the lone run against him coming unearned.  Lyford left in the sixth inning with the bases loaded and one out, when Hunter Johnson entered and shut down the Hornets with a strikeout and ground out.

Saddleback is now 15-9 overall and 3-5 in Orange Empire Conference play.  The Gauchos will finish the three-game set on Friday in Fullerton.  The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.

SO LONG BLAIR.  SEE YA PAL!