Bobcats roll past the Pirates

The Saddleback baseball team scored early and often in beating Orange Coast College, 16-3, on Tuesday in Costa Mesa.  The Bobcats scored nine times in the first inning in cruising past the Pirates.

Saddleback has put up a lot of crooked numbers in 2022.  The Bobcats had a couple more on Tuesday in a blowout win over Orange Coast.  Saddleback sent 15 batters to the plate in the opening inning in scoring nine runs to open the game.    The Bobcats then scored six more times in the top half of the fourth inning in sending the fans home early. 

Saddleback came into Tuesday having scored 3-or-more runs in 26 different innings this season.  They had also scored eight runs in an inning on four separate occasions.  The Bobcats came up with a new high on Tuesday when they scored nine times in the opening inning of the game against Orange Coast.

Saddleback had four hits and capitalized on three OCC errors, four walks and one hit-batsman in the inning.  Jacob Naso, Jordan Dissin, Cole Koniarsky and Luc Stuka all reached base twice in the inning as the Bobcats were at the plate for close to 40 minutes. 

Saddleback had another huge inning in the fourth when they sent 10 batters to the plate and scored six times.  This time the Bobcats got a little less help from the Pirates, wrapping out five hits while cashing in on two-of-three walks in the inning.  The big blow for Saddleback was from Stuka, who blasted a ball over the center field wall for a three-run homer to give the Bobcats a 15-0 lead.  It was the second straight game where Stuka (pictured) has hit a home run to center field, tying him for the team lead with four home runs.  Stuka finished 3-for-5 with four RBI in the game.   

The offensive outburst distracted the fans from what was an otherwise great outing on the mound for starter Connor Wilford.  The big righty pitched through the sixth inning in improving to 5-1 for the year.  Wilford struck out nine Orange Coast batters while surrendering six hits on the day.  Wilford eventually turned the ball over to a combination of Wilson Hall, Jacob Juarez and Cameron Cooke. 

Saddleback (16-5, 3-1) and Orange Coast (12-8, 2-2) will continue the three-game series at Saddleback on Thursday.  The first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM.