Orange Coast College

Baseball: OCC bats erupt for 21-13 win over Tigers

Saturday, March 28, 2009

COSTA MESA -- With both teams trading haymakers on offense, it took closer Brett Williams to deliver the final knockout punch for the Orange Coast College baseball team in Saturday's 21-13 Orange Empire Conference win over Riverside.

After the Tigers notched 13 runs on 14 hits over the first four-plus innings, Williams (4-0) silenced the Tigers' bats the rest of the way, allowing just one hit, three walks and a strikeout over the final 4 1/3 innings.

"We needed a performance like that from Brett down the stretch and he was able to give it to us," OCC head coach John Altobelli said following the Pirates' 11th straight OEC win. "During our streak, we've gotten outstanding starting pitching, so on a day when we didn't get that, it was nice to see everyone else step up."

The Pirates (20-7, 11-2 OEC) trailed 6-1 in the bottom of the third before answering the Tigers with a five-run frame of their own. The key blow came from Beck Wheeler (3-for-6, four runs, five RBI), who laced a three-run triple to right, scoring Ryan Sheeks, Mykal Stokes and Brett Wallach on the play. An RBI grounder by Kris Martin capped off the inning and tied the game at six.

But Riverside (13-15, 4-9) would respond in a big way, scoring six more times in the top of the fourth for a 12-6 advantage.

But the Pirates regrouped and sent 10 men to the plate in the fourth, scoring six runs of their own. a two-run single by Stokes got the rally started and a two-out, sun-aided infield double by Ryan Dunn capped off the frame for Coast.

Riverside would retake the lead, 13-12, in the top of the fifth, but Williams would make sure that no other Tigers would cross the plate the rest of the game.

In the bottom of the fifth, OCC batted through the entire lineup for the third straight inning and took the lead for good. Run-producing hits by Wheeler and Wallach was followed with a two-run single by Martin to give the Pirates a 16-13 advantage.

"This was a great win for us in terms of how we were able to bounce back from those big, early deficits," Altobelli said. "We showed a lot of heart and character and it was great to see."

Martin, who got the start as the Pirates' designated hitter after Scott Stidham was scratched with a heel injury, went 3-for-6 with a run and five RBI to highlight an offensive outburst that featured the entire lineup.

Eight of OCC's nine batters in the lineup had at least two hits, seven players scored at least two runs and Wallach (3-for-6, two runs), Wheeler and Martin each drove in five runs.

Next up for the first-place Pirates is a crucial two-game series with second-place Santa Ana, beginning on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Santa Ana College (20-8, 9-4). The same two teams will play at OCC on Thursday at 2 p.m.