Baseball: Roadrunners split Long Beach conference series
The Rio Hondo College baseball team came away with a split from its recent two-game South Coast Conference series against nearby Long Beach City College. The Roadrunners opened the set on Thursday with a convincing 8-2 victory at LBCC but were edged 5-4 in Saturday’s finale in Whittier.
The Rio Hondo College baseball team came away with a split from its recent two-game South Coast Conference series against nearby Long Beach City College. The Roadrunners opened the set on Thursday with a convincing 8-2 victory at LBCC but were edged 5-4 in Saturday's finale in Whittier.
Rio Hondo 8, Long Beach 2
The Roadrunners opened the contest with four runs in the top of the first inning and were up 7-0 after five innings before cruising to the win.
Josh Sabajan led Rio Hondo at the plate as he went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI. His two-run triple gave the Roadrunners a 3-0 advantage in the first while his RBI double extended Rio Hondo's lead to 6-0 in the fifth.
Isaiah Ramos picked up his first win of the season thanks to his impressive start on the mound. He went seven innings and allowed two runs and nine hits. Ramos struck out seven Vikings and walked just two.
Long Beach 5, Rio Hondo 4
Rio Hondo put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning but couldn't hold the lead as the Roadrunners dropped the finale at home.
Long Beach put up three runs in the third and two more in the sixth to take a 5-2 lead. But in the bottom of the seventh, Rio Hondo's Nick Ybarra smashed a two-run home run to drive in Lucas Rocha and cut the LBCC advantage to one.
But Rio Hondo would get no closer. In the eighth, the Roadrunners had the potential tying and go-ahead runs on second and third base with one out but couldn't get them home.
Jake Gaudet took the loss after allowing three runs and four hits over three innings. James Wright pitched well in relief as he closed out the game with three shutout innings and gave up just one hit.
Rio Hondo's overall record currently sits at 8-13 after the series while the Roadrunners are 2-6 in conference play. Rio Hondo returns to action on Tuesday (March 20) when it opens another two-game SCC series, this time at LA Harbor College. The set concludes on Thursday (March 22) back at Rio Hondo. Both games are scheduled to start at 2:30 p.m.