Lack of Offense and Errors Cost Dons in 8-4 Loss to Golden West College
The Dons dropped their first Orange Empire Conference game with the 8-4 loss to Golden West College. Both teams are now 1-1 in conference competition.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 8 | 8 | 1 |
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3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
SANTA ANA - The Dons high powered offense was slowed down for the second straight game, but this time the Dons weren't able to overcome it as they lost 8-4 to Golden West College in an Orange Empire Conference game.
Golden West (8-7, 1-1) got the first run of the game as the Rustlers took advantage of a leadoff walk. After Frank Califano drew the walk, he stole second before eventually scoring on a sacrifice fly by Soloman Williams.
The Dons (12-2, 1-1) answered in the bottom of the first inning with three runs to grab a 3-1 lead. JB Bryant started the rally with a single before Tyler Madrid drew a walk. Daniel Martinez then singled in Bryant before Madrid scored on a wild pitch. Martinez would eventually come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Joshua Vargas.
But the Dons bats would go cold after that with the exception of the sixth inning when Julio Garcia singled in Jesus Saldana from second base. Prior to that, however, Golden West pushed three runs across in the fourth inning and another run in the fifth inning to take a 5-3 lead.
The Rustlers three-run inning was aided by a Dons error along with two hits and a walk. The fifth-inning run was scored on a single to left field by Andrew Yazdanbakhsh.
After the Dons cut the Rustlers lead to 5-4 in the sixth inning, they were unable to get the equalizing run despite leaving runners at second and third base in the seventh and eighth innings. The Dons would-be rally got more difficult after allowing three runs in the top of the ninth inning. The first two were scored on a two-run double before a throwing error allowed the eighth run to cross home plate.
Richard Diaz (3-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he allowed five runs, four earned, on six hits over six innings. He also issued three walks while compiling eight strikeouts. Lucas Kaplan (1-1) picked up the win for Golden West as he took control of the game after the first inning. His final line was four runs on four hits over six innings.
