Baseball: Roadrunners edged 5-4 in season opener at Mt. SAC

It wasn't the start of the season that Rio Hondo College head coach Mike Salazar was hoping for. Mt. San Antonio College rallied for a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to defeat the visiting Roadrunners 5-4 in both teams' season opener at Mazmanian Field in Walnut on Saturday.

Rio Hondo will look to bounce back from the walk-off loss on Thursday (Feb. 4) at 2 p.m. when the Roadrunners host Glendale College in their 2016 home opener.

On Saturday, Rio Hondo trailed early before a three-run sixth inning tied up the ball game. Mt. SAC wasted little time in getting to Roadrunner starting pitcher Joe Wills. The Mounties scored a pair of runs in the first and scored one more in the second to jump out to a 3-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, Rio Hondo got a run back. Fernando Rosales led off the frame with a single and moved to second on a ground out by Albert Perez. With one out, Nick Giambalvo lined a single to center to drive in Rosales.

Mt. SAC regained its three-run advantage in the bottom of the fourth after a pair of Rio Hondo errors led to another unearned run.

Down 4-1, the Roadrunners sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the sixth to score three runs and even the score. Giambalvo led off with a triple that was followed by a walk by David Ornales. An error at shortstop off the bat of Gabe Chavez allowed Giambalvo score while two batters later, R.J. Romo's sacrifice fly drove in Ornales. Jordan Abernathy followed with a walk before Randy Buenrostro closed out the rally with a RBI single to score Chavez.

Brady Carlson pitched well in relief for the Roadrunners. He struck out four batters and allowed just one hit over three innings until the ninth. The frame started well as he struck out Anthony Semanaris and got a ground out from Nicholas Muratalla to open the bottom of the ninth. But Michael Smith reached on an error and came in to score on a triple Nathaniel Alam for the game-winner.

Abernathy went 3 for 4 with a walk to lead Rio Hondo at the plate while Giambalvo went 2 for 4 with a RBI. The Roadrunners totaled 10 hits in the contest but left 13 runners on base.