On Thursday, April 25, Mt. SAC baseball took a hard 18–9 loss against the El Camino Warriors in what would be SAC’s last regular season home game during their second game of the three-game conference series.
During the opening game of the three-game series on April 23, Mt. SAC took home a 4-2 victory but struggled from opening pitching during the second.
El Camino started the first inning with a run, two walks and two hits. Mt. SAC answered with a single by sophomore first baseman Gibby Morales (34) but stranded the runner to end the bottom of the first inning.
This would be a recurring theme for the game for SAC – the bats begin to heat up but the base runners were left stranded in scoring position.
In the top of the second inning, SAC switched pitchers by replacing sophomore pitcher Kyle Calzadiaz (16) with freshman pitcher Justin Cardenas (13). This was not enough to stop the Warriors as they continued to pull away by tacking on another three runs. Mt. SAC would record two hits in the bottom of the second on singles by sophomore outfielder Joey Rossetti (12) and freshman infielder Joel Gutierrez (6) but left the runners on base to end the inning.
SAC would turn to the bullpen to stop the bleeding at the top of the third by replacing Cardenas (13) with sophomore left-handed pitcher Alejandro Morales (22). The Warriors continued to light up the SAC pitching staff by adding another run to its lead.
After two scoreless innings, Mt. SAC would register their first runs of the game and cut the Warriors’ five-run lead by scoring two runs off of a passed ball from Warriors sophomore catcher Eric Perez (19) allowed sophomore shortstop Andrew Ramirez (2) to cross home plate safely. Freshman right fielder Bryan Bradshaw (24) would also score for SAC after a double-play forced two outs and allowing. Morales (34) to advance to third.
During the bottom of the third inning, freshman third baseman Andrew Walters (26) got hit by a pitch for the first of three times. Walters (26) was escorted off the field by trainers after the third hit-by-pitch and didn’t return to the game but was seen in the dugout after the game.
At the end of the third inning, the Warriors led 5–2.
At the top of the fourth, Mt. SAC changed pitchers for the third time in the game. Freshman Michael Grant (11) took the bump in place of Morales (22) but El Camino would match their run total through three innings in one and scored five runs off five hits and one left stranded.
SAC couldn’t figure out the Warriors’ pitching as it finished the bottom of the fourth with freshman Joel Gutierrez (6) left on base.
The offense woke up when SAC scored two runs in the seventh inning when Morales (34) hit a two-run bomb that brought in Ramiez (2) and cut the Warriors’ lead to 10-4.
According to Morales (34), he was happy to hit a home run but knows the team needs to work harder if SAC wants to close out the series with a win.
“We need to be more aggressive in the box and play together as a team,” Morales (34) said.
The eighth inning had the most runs scored by both teams with a total of nine runs scored: four coming from the Warriors and five being scored by SAC. During the top of the eighth, Mt. SAC turned to the bullpen once again and had sophomore Ray Northey (42) come in to relieve Wrightstone (5). The Warriors would tally their four eighth-inning runs on three hits, two walks.
SAC would score their three eighth-inning runs on three RBI singles from Gutierrez (6), Morales (34) and freshman infielder Diego Ortiz (9) and ended the inning with three players left on base. The score, 14–9.
SAC made another pitching change in the top of the ninth when they put sophomore Chris Ceballos (45) on the mound to relieve Northey (42). The Warriors’ offense took advantage of another pitcher and scored four runs to finish the game. During the bottom of the ninth inning, El Camino pitched a one-two-three inning to cap the game.
Head coach Scott Knott commented on utilizing seven pitchers and said that he doesn’t think this will affect their gameplay in the next game because each of them served short shifts and SAC still has more pitchers.
“We could put pressure on these guys and we just didn’t play how we are capable of,” Knott added on how he thought the team performed.
With Mt. SAC’s conference season ending with a 3-1 road win against the Warriors, SAC sits and waits for the postseason picture to finalize.
