Orange Coast College

Baseball: Early struggles cost Pirates in 7-4 loss to Saddleback

Friday, April 18, 2008

MISSION VIEJO -- Not even a revamped lineup could help the Orange Coast College baseball team snap out of its funk.

The Pirates dropped their fourth straight Orange Empire Conference game with a 7-4 loss to host Saddleback on Thursday, dropping them into a tie for second place with Irvine Valley in the OEC standings.

OCC (26-11-1, 10-5) fell behind early as the Pirate pitching staff allowed seven runs (six earned) over the first four innings, putting the pressure on the struggling Coast offense.

A pair of runs in the sixth and a pair of runs in the ninth drew the Pirates close and with the bases loaded in their final at-bat, OCC had the tying runs on base. However, Saddleback reliever Rich Kemp struck out the final batter of the game to preserve the win for the Gauchos (20-18, 6-9).

Ryan Dunn went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI for Coast's lone multi-hit player. During their four-game losing streak, the Pirates have been held to a .216 batting average, while their team ERA has been 4.50 in that same span.

Following a couple of days off, the Pirates will look to regroup on Tuesday at Cypress College, beginning at 2:30 p.m. The Pirates and Chargers will wrap up their three-game season series at OCC on Thursday, also at 2:30 p.m.