Baseball: Roadrunners drop conference series to Mt. SAC

WALNUT – It was a tough three-game South Coast Conference series for the Rio Hondo College baseball team. The Roadrunners squared off with Mt. San Antonio College and couldn't come away with a win, dropping all three games to the Mounties.

The series opened on Tuesday with an 8-5 loss in Walnut, followed by a 10-4 setback in Whittier on Thursday, and ended with a 13-2 defeat back at Mt. SAC.

All three games saw the Mounties get out to early leads that the Roadrunners couldn't overcome. Rio Hondo trailed 6-1 after four innings in Game 1, was down 5-1 after four innings in the second game, and was in a 9-0 hole after three innings in Saturday's finale.

Rio Hondo banged out 13 hits in Thursday's opener and got good games at the plate from Gabriel Rico (3 for 5, 2B, run, RBI), Josep Angulo (2 for 4, 2B, RBI), and Jordan Salgado (2 for 4, RBI).

Game 2 saw Rafael Flores (pictured) smack a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning, his team-leading sixth home run of the season. The Roadrunners had seven hits in the contest, led by a 2 for 3 game by Daniel Ortega.

The Roadrunners couldn't get much going offensively in the finale, as they totaled just five hits. Rio Hondo scored both its runs in the off the sixth as Ortega came through with a RBI single and a fielder's choice off the bat of Nolan Anguiano scored another run.

The three losses dropped the Roadrunners to 14-10 overall and 5-7 in South Coast Conference play. The Roadrunners return to action on Tuesday (Mar. 22) at 2:30 p.m. when they begin a three-game SCC series at Long Beach City College.