Orange Coast College

Baseball: Pirates keep on rolling with 9-3 win over Fullerton

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

FULLERTON -- After a 0-2 start to the Orange Empire Conference schedule, the Orange Coast College baseball team has found a groove.

Thanks to another stellar pitching performance, combined with offense up and down the lineup, the Pirates won their fourth straight OEC contest with a 9-3 road win against Fullerton on Tuesday.

Sophomore Chris Licon (4-1) threw 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) on six hits, walking one and striking out two. Brett Williams and Andy Abrams went the rest of the way, allowing just one hit, one walk and three strikeouts.

After a shaky start to the season, the Pirates' pitching staff has been on a tear, allowing just one run over the past 28 1/3 innings.

While the staff has held the opposition at bay, OCC's offense has been steady, scoring nine runs in each of its past three games. Much like the other two performances, every Pirate contributed to the cause.

Four Pirates -- Ryan Sheeks, Drew Hillman, Beck Wheeler and D.J. Arellano -- each had two hits. Two other Pirates -- Mykal Stokes and Brett Wallach -- each had two RBI. Stokes, Arellano and Ryan Dunn each scored twice as well.

In the second, OCC (13-7, 4-2 in OEC) found some two-out offense and produced four runs. Dunn walked, went to second on a single by Arellano and scored on an RBI single by Sheeks. Stokes followed with a triple to left-center, scoring Arellano and Sheeks to make it 3-0. Hillman followed with a double to left-center to score Stokes.

After a Wheeler RBI in the third made it 5-0, Fullerton (6-14, 1-5) got as close as 5-3 with a run in the bottom of the third and a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth.

But OCC would pull away for good in the top of the eighth with four more runs, highlighted by a two-run single by Wallach, an RBI single by Arellano and an RBI sacrifice fly by Scott Stidham.

The Pirates will return to action on Thursday at Golden West, beginning at 2 p.m. Their next home game will be Tuesday against Cypress, also at 2.