Cats take down the hive

The Saddleback baseball team defeated Fullerton College, 4-2, on Friday in Fullerton.  With the win the Bobcats took the three-game series from the Hornets.

For a second time in three weeks, Saddleback has rallied from a 1-0 deficit in an Orange Empire Conference series to win the series.  The latest chapter happened on Friday when the Bobcats had a third straight solid pitching performance in winning a tight battle with the Hornets.

Saddleback never trailed in the game, scoring three runs over the first two innings in putting Fullerton into a corner.  The Bobcats opened the first inning with singles from Matthew Deutsch and Makani Tanaka, who both came around to score on a two-out single from Jacob Beauchaine.  Saddleback made it 3-0 in the second inning when Bryson Hoier singled to lead off the inning and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Tanaka.

Saddleback led 3-1 heading to the sixth inning when they added on an insurance run.  Andrew Nykoluk started the inning with a single and later scored when Ben Castelli singled with two outs in the inning. 

Saddleback's pitching staff was solid for a third straight game.  Jack Wade pitched five innings, surrendering just three hits while allowing one run in improving to 3-1 on the season.  Dylan Blakey and Zachary Allegro pitched the final four innings, with Allegro going 2.2 innings in picking up his fifth save of the season.  The Saddleback trio struck out seven Hornets on the day, allowing very few scoring opportunities.

Saddleback's pitching staff gave up only three earned runs in the three-game series with Fullerton, shutting down a Hornet attack that came into the series with one of the more potent offenses in the conference.  Bobcat pitchers struck out 25 Hornets in the series while allowing just 19 hits. 

Saddleback is now 15-9 overall and 5-4 in Orange Empire Conference play following the win.  The Bobcats are now in a three-way tie for third place in conference play, one game back of Orange Coast College and two games behind Santa Ana College.

Saddleback will host Palomar College on Saturday in a non-conference battle against the Comets.  The first pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.