Bats get hot at Southwestern

The Saddleback baseball team has had a busy week dodging rain drops and cold weather but managed to pick up a win at Southwestern College on Friday afternoon in Chula Vista.  The Bats pumped out 15 hits to go to five games over .500 with three games remaining before conference play.

Saddleback and Southwestern were making up a game that was originally scheduled for Tuesday but had been postponed as a result of the latest round of storms to hit Southern California.  The Bobcats didn't let the cold temperatures get to them as the bats blistered throughout the day.

Saddleback scored two runs in both the first and second innings in taking a 4-0 lead.  The Cats scored twice in the opening inning when they pieced together three straight hits with two outs in the inning.  Carter Enoch provided the opening runs when he singled home both Jacob Hudson and Matthew Henning for a 2-0 lead.  The Bobcats scored two more runs in the second when Jack Borges singled home both Cole Strane and Dmitri Susidko.

Southwestern scored four times in the bottom half of the third inning.  The Jags had five hits in the inning, nearly chasing starter Ryan Rios from the game.  Rios then settled down and retired nine of the next 10 batters in pitching six innings and picking up the win.

Saddleback grabbed back the lead in the top half of the fifth inning when Hudson singled home Wesley Hickey for a 5-4 advantage.  Later in the inning Joey Doskocil had a sacrifice fly to score Henning for a 6-4 lead. 

Saddleback tacked on two insurance runs in the top half of the eighth inning, starting the inning with three consecutive hits and then taking advantage of the wildness from the Southwestern pitching staff.  Doskocil, Austin Palmares and Strane had three straight singles to start the inning, and then a pair of walks and a passed ball gave Saddleback an 8-4 advantage.

Saddleback blew the game wide open in the ninth inning when they tallied four more runs in taking a 12-4 lead.  A defensive error and three walks in the inning propelled the Cats offense.   Hickey and Hudson had hits to make the Jaguars pay for their miscues.

Saddleback got a great performance out of the bullpen from Brennan Bauer, who pitched three solid innings in picking up his first save of the season.  Bauer gave up just one hit, allowing only one runner to reach base.

Hudson was the offensive star, finishing 3-for-5 and reaching base four times.  Nine different Saddleback players scored runs in the game. 

Saddleback is now 9-4 overall to start the season.  The Bobcats will continue non-conference play at Glendale College on Saturday.  The Bobcats and Vaqueros are scheduled to start at 3:00 PM in Glendale.