Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates snap skid with 4-1 win over Palomar

Thursday, February 12, 2009

COSTA MESA -- It was the perfect type of game that the Orange Coast College baseball team needed to snap a four-game losing streak.

Strong pitching, solid defense and just enough timely hitting enabled the Pirates to topple visiting Palomar, 4-1, in a nonconference matchup on Wednesday at Wendell Pickens Field.

It was those three traits that have eluded the Pirates (3-4) over the past few games, but not on Wednesday.

Starter Brett Williams improved to 2-0 as he pitched seven strong innings, allowing one run on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts. After dodging some early bullets, the sophomore transfer from Loyola Marymount retired the side in order in the fourth, fifth and seventh innings. In fact, only a hit batsman in the sixth was the lone batter to reach during Williams' final four innings of work.

Sophomore righty Chris Licon pitched the final two innings to pick up the save, his first of the season.

OCC trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the third before taking the lead for good. Gary Detwiler started the outburst with a one-out single to center. Josh Berryhill followed with a single to right, moving Detwiler to third. After an Alonzo Torres RBI groundout tied the game, OCC jumped ahead thanks to two-out RBI hits by Ryan Sheeks, Drew Hillman and Brett Wallach, giving the Pirates a 4-1 advantage.

Sheeks, Wallach and Brett Wheeler each had two hits in Coast's 11-hit attack.

Weather permitting, OCC will head down to San Diego for a three-game tournament, beginning at San Diego City on Thursday at 1 p.m. The Pirates' next home game will be on Thursday, Feb. 19 against the College of the Desert, beginning at 2 p.m.