Orange Coast College

Baseball: Hillman leads Pirates to 14-1 win over Fullerton

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

FULLERTON -- Drew Hillman went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and eight RBI to lead the Orange Coast College baseball team to its seventh straight Orange Empire Conference win, 14-1, over the host Fullerton Hornets on Tuesday.

Hillman (pictured left), who entered the game with 22 RBI for the entire season, smacked a three-run triple in the first, then clubbed a grand slam in the third for his first home run of the season. He later added an RBI single in the fifth for his eighth RBI of the game. He finished just one RBI shy of tying the school's single-game record of nine, held by Derek Dehdashtian in 1988 and equaled by Jason Reuss in 1999.

The freshman third baseman's timely hits early in the game helped the Pirates (23-7, 7-1 in OEC) jump out to a 12-1 lead after three innings, more than enough run support for sophomore lefty Brandon Dixon, who improved to 7-1 overall with his six-inning performance. He allowed just one earned run on four hits, walking three and striking out five along the way. Beau Graham and Serrin Jarvi pitched the final three innings, allowing no runs on two hits with three K's to close the game out.

Jourdan Watanabe clubbed his fifth home run of the season and finished with two hits and two RBI, while Wes Kartch and Cory Olson combined to reach base eight times and score six runs for the Pirates. Ryan Dunn went 2-for-5 and Kyle Muhlsteff added a hit, a run and two RBI.

OCC will return home to host the Hornets (21-9, 2-6) on Thursday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Pirates will wrap up the week at home against Riverside on Saturday, beginning at noon.