Baseball: Roadrunners rally for 7-6 win over Mt. SAC

Center fielder Lucas Rocha went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI and knocked in the game-winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning as Rio Hondo College erase a three-run deficit to defeat visiting Mt. San Antonio College 7-6 on Saturday in Whittier.

The win for the Roadrunners closed out a three-game South Coast Conference series and helped Rio Hondo avoid a sweep.

Mt. SAC led 6-3 after the top of the sixth inning before Rio Hondo put up three runs in the bottom of the frame to tie it up. Josh Sabajan and Nick Ybarra hit RBI singles while Rocha added a sacrifice fly to fuel the rally.

The game remained even until the bottom of the eighth. Sabajan singled to open the inning and was moved to second on a sacrifice by Doug Allen. And Rocha followed with a long single that brought in Sabajan all the way from second base for what proved to be the game-winner.

Andy Garcia set the Mounties down in order in the top of the ninth to close out the victory for Rio Hondo as well as an impressive relief outing. Garcia earned the win after tossing five scoreless innings and allowed just four hits.

Rio Hondo totaled 11 hits in the contest and got two each from Ybarra, Aiden Gutierrez, Tony Rosario, and Sabajan.

Just three games remain for Rio Hondo. The Roadrunners will open their final SCC series on Tuesday (April 24) at Pasadena City College. The set moves to Whittier for Thursday's (April 26) contest and returns to PCC for the series and season finale on Friday (April 27). All games are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. starts.