Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates drop third straight

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team dropped its third straight game with a 4-2 Orange Empire Conference loss at home to Saddleback on Tuesday at Wendell Pickens Field.

The Pirates (26-10-1, 10-4 in conference) came out flat against the Gauchos (19-18, 5-9) as they watched a 2-1 lead go up in smoke with a three-run Saddleback seventh inning. Eric Mura capped off the three-run frame with a two-out, two-run home run off starter Brandon Dixon (8-3) to break a 2-2 tie.

Gaucho lefty Zac Johnston (4-2) pitched 6 1/3 innings to pick up the win. He allowed just two runs on five hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

There were plenty of opportunities for the Pirates to regain the lead, but none were cashed in. In the seventh, OCC had runners on first and third with one out, but back-to-back infield pop-ups ended the threat. In the bottom of the eighth, Coast has the bases loaded with one out, but another infield pop-up and a strikeout left the bags full.

Cory Olson, Drew Hillman and Brett Wallach each had two hits for the Pirates, but the rest of the OCC lineup combined to go just 2-for-22.

The Pirates and Gauchos will wrap up their three-game season series at Saddleback on Thursday, beginning at 2:30 p.m. OCC's next home game will take place on Thursday, April 24 against Cypress, also at 2:30 p.m.