Bobcats swat back at Hornets

The Saddleback baseball team won its second straight game with a 4-2 win against Fullerton College on Tuesday at Doug Fritz Field.  The Bobcats rallied from a late deficit in swatting back the Hornets.

Saddleback struggled at the plate for most of the day, but made the best of their opportunities late.  Trailing 2-1 heading into the bottom half of the eighth inning with two outs, Saddleback bunched together a walk, a single and a triple in scoring three runs to surge past Fullerton. 

With Johnathan Behm on second base due to an error on Fullerton to start the inning, Nation Wood walked to put the potential go-ahead run at first base.  Lance Gardiner then made the Hornets pay for their error by driving a single through the right side of the infield to score Behm to tie the game.  Antonino Vultaggio (pictured) then took out a can of Raid on the Hornets, blasting a ball down the right field line for a triple to score both Wood and Gardiner for a 4-2 lead. 

Saddleback was solid on the other side of the field.  The pitching combination of Hunter Ash, Connor Wilford, Ryan Farmer and Ethan Holt spread around 10 hits while the defense was flawless.  Farmer ended up picking up his second win of the season after taking over in the seventh inning and pitching two innings of work.  Holt pitched a perfect ninth inning for his second save of the season. 

Saddleback improved to 11-14 overall and 7-9 in Orange Empire Conference play with the win.  The Bobcats will finish off the 2021 home schedule on Thursday (2:00 PM) before traveling to Fullerton for a double-header on Friday to finish the season.