Baseball: Roadrunners drop SCC opener 6-4 at Compton

Sophomore Nick Ybarra went 3 for 4 with a RBI to lead Rio Hondo College at the plate in a 6-4 loss at Compton College in both teams' South Coast Conference opener on Thursday.

The loss dropped the Roadrunners to 6-8 overall and 1-0 in SCC play.

Rio Hondo fell behind 3-0 after Compton (6-9, 1-0 SCC) scored a single run in the first and two more in the third. The Roadrunners finally got on the board in the fifth thanks to Ybarra's single that drove in Tony Rosario.

Rio Hondo rallied for three runs in the sixth to go ahead 4-3. Marcos Rivas laced a RBI single, Lucas Rocha hit a sac fly, and Rosario came in to score on a wild pitch.

But the lead was short-lived. Compton scored twice in the bottom of the sixth and added an insurance run in the seventh before the Tartars' bullpen held on for the win.

Isaiah Ramos took the loss for Rio Hondo to fall to 0-3. He allowed five runs and seven hits over six innings. Nicko Cottone tossed 1 ⅔ of scoreless relief to keep the hopes of a Rio Hondo comeback alive.

The two-game SCC series is set to close on Saturday (March 3) in Whittier at 12 p.m.