The American River College baseball team used pitching and defense to win for a change on Tuesday, defeating the Modesto J.C. Pirates 2-1 in Modesto for the Beavers 5th straight win on the road.  It was destined to be a pitching duel between a pair of sophomore lefties, Matt Gunter (Bella Vista) for the Beavers and Eddie Machado for Modesto who entered the game with a 0.68 ERA.  The Beavers got on the board first, after a leadoff walk by freshman 1B Kirby Broadbent (Oakmont).  He advanced to second on a wild pitch then scored on a two out double to right by sophomore 3B Colton Freeman (El Camino)  The Beavers added a run in the 6th when they loaded the bases with no outs, but were only able to manage a one out sac fly by sophomore LF Jimmy Lunardelli (Oakmont) who scored Steve Mercado (Antelope) who had reached on an error.  Gunter threw 8 scoreless innings, allowing just 3 hits and striking out a season low three batters.  Freshman RHP Christian Savage (Cosumnes Oaks) came on in relief in the 9th and picked up his second save, in somewhat dramatic fashion.  With two outs and a runner at second, Thomas Reeder, the Modesto right fielder laced a ball to left-center to score the runner.  When Reeder tried to take an extra base and get to second, centerfielder Brandon Raposa (Woodcreek) threw him out on a close play to end the game.

The Beavers improve to 7-6 on the year and return home to face cross-town rival Cosumnes River College at Beaver Field at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday.