Gauchos blast Knights in home opener
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
San Diego City | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 2 |
|
Saddleback | 13 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 22 | 22 | 1 |
The Saddleback baseball team scored 13 runs in the opening inning in beating San Diego City College, 22-3, on Saturday afternoon at Doug Fritz Field. The 13-run frame was a new program record.
Saddleback opened the home schedule with a dominating performance. The Gauchos batted for close to 45 minutes in the bottom half of the first inning, ending the game shortly after it had begun. The Gauchos sent 17 batters to the plate in the opening inning, scoring 13 runs on nine hits. Saddleback was also served up two walks and two hit batsman, nearly batting around the lineup two times.
Saddleback added three more runs in both the second and third innings as the San Diego City pitching staff had no answers. In total the Gauchos had 15 hits over the first three innings, forcing two Knight pitchers to the showers and giving the Gaucho coaching staff plenty of reason to get some new jerseys into the game.
Saddleback had a number of stars on offense as 12 different players finished with hits in the game. Demitri Colacchio finished 4-for-5 while Ryan Thibert was 3-for-4. Reed Beverly finished 2-for-2 with four RBI while Zak Bowman had a pair of hits and five RBI. Filip Smola reached base five times while he and Riley Kasper both scored three times.
Zak Herbers started on the hill for Saddleback and pitched through the fourth inning in picking up the win on a technicality. Herbers gave way to a bullpen that included Matt Comnos, Jacob Bogacz, Noah Moya, Travis Willis and Wyatt Boone. Saddleback pitchers surrendered just one earned-run for the game while striking out 11 San Diego City batters.
The 22 runs from Saddleback was the most since scoring 23 last season against Bakersfield College on March 29. The Gauchos also scored 22 against Compton College last season on February 27.
Saddleback is now 2-0 on the season and will have a busy week as the Gauchos will host four games this coming week. Saddleback will host Palomar College on Tuesday at 2:00 PM before a three-game set with Santa Barbara City College on Thursday through Saturday.