Baseball: Rio Hondo completes sweep of No. 1 El Camino

After snapping No. 1 state-ranked El Camino College's 25-game winning streak on Tuesday, the Rio Hondo College Roadrunners decided to help the Warriors (33-4) begin a new streak by beating them for a second consecutive game. Rio Hondo scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to walk off with a 6-5 victory on Thursday in Whittier.

Rio Hondo rallied late twice. With the score tied 3-3 in the eighth, Gabe Chavez hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Alex Rodriguez to put the Roadrunners in front.

But El Camino's Trevor Casanova homered for the second straight game, this time a two-run shot in the top of the ninth, to give the Warriors a 6-4 lead heading into the bottom of the frame. ECC relief pitcher Jake Carr got two quick outs and appeared to be on his way to closing out the Warriors win.

But the game was extended thanks to a two-out fielding error by El Camino shortstop Darian Sylvester on Nick Ybarra's grounder. Rodriguez followed with a booming triple to score Ybarra for the tying run and put momentum on Rio Hondo's side. Cesar Sandoval drew a walk to put runners on first and third, setting up the thrilling finish. Sylvester once again couldn't make the play at short, this time booting Tony Rosario's grounder, allowing Rodriguez to score the game-winner.

Chris Velasquez pitched well in the start for Rio Hondo. He allowed three runs and six hits over six innings. Isaiah Ramos tossed two scoreless innings of relief while Edmundo Fernandez recorded the final out in the ninth to get credited with the win.

At the plate, Rodriguez went 3 for 5 with two runs and a pair of RBI to lead the Roadrunners. Ybarra also drove in two runs with a couple of hits with Chavez adding two hits and a RBI as well.

With the victory, the Roadrunners improved to 18-15 overall. Rio Hondo is 10-9 in the SCC North Division as they head into their final week of conference play vs. Chaffey College. The three-game series opens on Tuesday (Apr. 25) in Whittier followed by Game 2 in Rancho Cucamonga on Thursday (Apr. 27) with the finale being played on Friday (Apr. 28) back at Rio Hondo. All games are set for 2:30 p.m. starts.

The Roadrunners trail SCC North-leading Pasadena City College by 2 1/2 games heading into the weekend. Pasadena is 12-6 with four games left to play. PCC faces East Los Angeles on Saturday to wrap up a three-game series and closes the regular season with a three-game set vs. Mt. San Antonio College starting on Tuesday.