Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates open season with win over Mt. San Antonio

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team got off on the right foot on Tuesday with an 11-8 nonconference win over visiting Mt. San Antonio College in both teams' 2009 season opener.

OCC jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks to RBI singles by Drew Hillman and Beck Wheeler as well as an RBI grounder by Scott Stidham, but Mt. SAC tied the game in the fourth and scored a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to take a 5-3 lead.

But the Pirates responded quickly with a pair of runs in the bottom of the fifth. A double by Brett Wallach and a single by D.J. Arellano put runners on first and third with nobody out. Ryan Sheeks (2-for-3, two runs, three RBI) followed with a sacrifice fly to center and two batters later, Hillman (3-for-5, one run, three RBI) drove in Arellano with an RBI triple to left-center.

In the seventh, Coast took the lead for good when Sheeks led off with a double to left, went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Ryan Dunn and scored on a Hillman single to left.

The Pirates opened the eighth with six straight batters reaching base, setting the stage for a five-run frame that produced RBI singles from Wallach and Arellano, as well as a two-run single by Sheeks.

The Mounties rallied for three in the top of the ninth and had the tying run at the plate, but Scott Hong's diving catch in right ended the game.

Brett Williams threw 3 1/3 innings of relief to pick up the win, allowing just one earned run with three strikeouts.

On Thursday, the Pirates open a three-game series in San Luis Obispo against Cuesta College, beginning at 2 p.m. OCC's next home game will be on Saturday, Feb. 7 against Long Beach City, beginning at noon.