Pitching shuts down Pirates in opener

The Saddleback baseball team opened the 3C2A Southern California Regional Playoffs with a 2-0 win over Orange Coast College on Friday at Doug Fritz Field.  The Bobcat pitching staff struck out 14 Pirates on the day.

Saddleback was facing an Orange Coast team that took 2-of-3 from them earlier in the season, so fans showed up hoping for a win against a program that has historically been a thorn in its side.  The Bobcats received a great performance from the pitching staff, as Orange Coast managed just three hits on the afternoon. 

Orange Coast had some opportunities, putting a runner at third base in three of the first five innings of the game.  The Pirates loaded the bases in the opening inning but couldn't score as starting pitcher Jack Wade got out of the jam with a pair of strikeouts to keep the game scoreless. Orange Coast then had runners on second and third base in the top half of the third inning, only to see the opportunity slip away when Wade got another strikeout to end the threat.  The Pirates again looked as if they would end the drought in the fifth inning when they had base loaded with two outs in the inning.  Unfortunately, the runner at third would get caught in a rundown after the ball squirted away from catcher Rodrigo Barajas, but not far enough away from the plate to score from third base. 

Saddleback went to the bullpen in the sixth inning when Wade was pulled from the game as he approached 100 pitches.  Ryan Seymour and Dylan Blakey pitched two innings apiece, with Blakey striking out four batters over the final two innings in picking up his sixth save of the season.  In total, Saddleback pitchers finished with 14 strikeouts, which was the most since opening weekend when they struck out 14 against College of the Canyons in a 9-6 loss. 

Saddleback scored its first run of the game in the bottom half of the third inning when Makani Tanaka brought home Andrew Nykoluk on a sacrifice fly.  Nykoluc started the rally with a single and advanced to third on a double from Ben Castelli. 

Saddleback added an insurance run in the bottom half of the eighth inning when Jacob Beauchaine reached on a fielder's choice, bringing home Nykoluk from third base.  Nykoluk was the lone Bobcat to have multiple hits in the game, finishing 2-for-3 with two runs-scored.

Saddleback took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series with the win.  The Bobcats and Pirates will resume the series on Saturday at 12:00 PM.  If necessary, a third game would be played 30 minutes after the completion of game two.