Dons Move Into First Place Tie with 10-7 Win over Golden West College
With both the Dons and Orange Coast winning, coupled with Saddleback's loss, the Dons moved into a three-way tie for first place with their 10-7 win over Golden West College.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
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1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 10 | 11 | 3 |
SANTA ANA - The Dons overcame a sixth-run inning, and a one-run deficit, to defeat visiting Golden West College 10-7 and move into a three-way tie for first place in the Orange Empire Conference. The Dons (20-11, 11-7) moved into the tie with Orange Coast College and Saddleback College after Orange Coast defeated Fullerton College while Saddleback lost to Cypress College.
Golden West (15-18, 6-12) scored first with a RBI-single by Andrew Yazdanbakhsh before Ryan Aguilar tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the first when he scored Joshua Vargas with a sacrifice fly.
The Dons went on to take their first lead of the game with a four-run second inning that included a two-run single by Vargas. Cameron Baranek also drove in a run with his RBI single before scoring on Aguilar's second sacrifice fly of the game.
Then, in the third inning, the Dons extended their lead to 6-1 when Baranek reached on an error, allowing Manuel Segura to score. Segura reached in the previous at bat on a double to right field.
But the Rustlers would put up six runs in the fourth inning to reclaim the lead at 7-6. Golden West tallied five hits in the inning while also taking advantage of an error and two passed balls.
The lead wouldn't last long as the Dons rallied for four runs in the fifth inning to take the lead for good at 10-7. Vargas tripled in a pair of runs while Baranek and Alex Mascarenas accounted for the other two RBI.
Daniel Ferrel (4-1) picked up the win for the Dons as he pitched 1.1 innings of relief while allowing two unearned runs on five hits. A.J. Franks got his seventh save of the season after pitching a perfect ninth inning. Tanner Brown (2-2) took the loss for Golden West after allowing nine runs, eight earned, on 10 hits over four innings.
