CYPRESS, CA- Charger baseball (19-6, 7-3 OEC) dropped the first of a three-game series against the visiting Riverside Tigers (21-4, 8-0 OEC) on Tuesday afternoon, 8-12 .
Cypress welcomed the first-place Tigers for a battle at the top of the Orange Empire Conference. The second-place Chargers looked to give the Tigers their first conference loss.
The first three frames were quick and quiet with no damage on the scoreboard for either side. However in the fourth, Riverside struck for two runs after they pieced together four hits.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Chargers made an effective and efficient comeback as they rallied for three runs. Edgar Rosales started the scoring effort with an RBI double that was followed with a run-scoring ground out to tie. Luke Honikel came in clutch with a two-out RBI single for the 3-2 advantage.
The Chargers lead did not last long though, as Riverside put up four in the inning that followed. The home team kept the pressure as they knotted the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. With bases loaded, Nick Mascaro hit a long fly and the center fielder dropped it. The error allowed two runs to score and for Cypress to come within one run. A batter later, Rosales hit a sacrifice fly out to tie it back up at six apiece.
In the seventh, a Cypress mistake gave way for the visiting team to go back on top. The Tigers tallied two runs off of three hits and a costly error. The home team yet again had an answer after the seventh inning stretch. A base hit from Aaron Perez rolled under the glove of the center fielder. The error had the ball roll all the way to the wall as Dean Togio scored from first and Perez came all the way around to score. The Chargers had tied it 8-8 as the game went into the final two innings.
The Tigers put up three runs in the eighth but Cypress was not able to respond. In the first of the three-game series, the home team could not keep up the offense in the final frames and lost 8-12. Isaac Rodriguez was the only Charger with a multi-hit game as he went 2-3, a double and touched home twice. Rosales tallied two RBIs from his sacrifice fly, crossed the plate and recorded a hit. Both Kane Yonamine and Luke Honikel reached on a hit and earned an RBI. Andrew Banda started the game, went 3.1 frames and only allowed two runs while he struck out one. Evan Adolphus came in for relief with 3.0 innings pitched, six runs and a strike out. Andrew Dusablon delivered 1.2 innings with three runs and Cesar Ortiz allowed one run in one frame pitched. The teams will meet at the end of the week for the final two matchups of the three-game series.
UP NEXT: The Chargers continue the three-game series with the Riverside Tigers on Friday, March 31st. First pitch from Cypress College will be at 2pm.
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