Baseball Walks It Off in Conference Opener

A ninth inning error committed by the Riverside City College baseball team forced extra innings on Tuesday afternoon in the Orange Empire Conference (OEC) season opener against the Golden West College Rustlers. It was a low scoring affair throughout the entire game, but the Tigers were able to send home the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10^th innings leading to a 3-2 win.

After stranding the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning with only one out, sophomore reliever Rheego McIntosh took to the bump and retired the side in order via strikeout.

The Tigers went back to work offensively in the bottom half of the inning. Sophomore left fielder Adrian Arechiga led off the inning via walk. Sophomore first baseman Jordan Ruiz moved him over the second on a sacrifice bunt, setting the stage for freshman third baseman Jerrad Gonzalez.   

Gonzalez worked a full count after fouling off a handful of tough pitches. He came through on the seventh pitch of the at bat by barreling a single down the right field line, plating Arechiga for the win.

"It's a great team win for the boys," said Gonzalez. "We played hard and came out with the win."

Gonzalez has locked down the hot corner for the Tigers and he shined when the lights were flashed on him.

"I was just trying to hit something hard and I did what I did."

Riverside jumped out to a two-run lead in the bottom of the second inning and held the advantage until the final frame. Freshman second baseman Robert Phelps came through with his first RBI opportunity in the game by driving a ground ball through the left side, scoring Arechiga and sophomore catcher Rei Shobuya.

Sophomore starting pitcher Anthony Silvas took to the rubber and tossed six effective innings while allowing just on run on five hits. He fanned four batters along the way.

In his last four outings, the University of Oklahoma commit has struck out at lest three batters and allowing less than five hits per outing. He boasts a lowly 1.42 ERA to lead the rotation.

Sophomore reliever Albert Roblez was in line for the save, but the ninth inning error hinder him from capturing it. He chucked third dominant innings while not allowing a single hit and striking out three batters.

The Tiger offense barreled 10 hits on the day with Arechiga leading the way. He reached base in all five at bats as seen in three singles and a pair of walks.

Gonzalez and Phelps each went 2-for-4 with Phelps driving in two runs and Gonzalez inking the game winner.