Late-Inning Losses Leave Baseball at 6-6

The Pasadena City College baseball team enters the 21-game, South Coast Conference schedule with a 6-6 overall record, including three losses that occurred in the ninth inning or beyond.

The Lancers hope to get their game in Tuesday, Mar. 8 when they host the conference opener against Long Beach City College in a 2 p.m. first pitch at Brookside Park’s Jackie Robinson Memorial Field. Wet field conditions could postpone the game.

On Mar. 5 at Los Angeles Valley College, the Lancers held a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth inning. The Monarchs then won in walk-off fashion as Dylan Mersola hit a RBI double to tie and Julian Harrison later followed with a 2-out, game-winning hit to the shortstop hole off hard-luck losing reliever Anthony Mizrahi.

Shortstop Alex Briggs batted 2-for-5 with one RBI while leftfielder Brandon Benson slugged a run-scoring triple in the third inning. Catcher Justin Cage added a RBI single that gave PCC a 3-1 lead in the fifth.

PCC starting pitcher Jared Tietgen pitched well in a no decision as he tossed six innings of 3-hit ball.

On Mar. 3 at JR Field, PCC trailed 4-3 before Bakersfield scored six runs in the fifth in defeating the Lancers, 10-4. Starting as the designated hitter, Joe Quire was 2-for-3 with a double and third baseman Mitch Bryan went 2-for-5. Evan Bricker, the team’s third of five pitchers, had a solid outing, going 3.1 innings, allowing three hits and one earned run.

The Lancers’ team hitting dropped to No. 13 in the state at .309. After 12 games, first baseman Jeremy Conant leads the squad with a .404 average while second baseman Paul Christian (.340) tops the Lancers in RBI with 19. Tietgen holds a 2.95 ERA in 18.1 innings while reliever Isaac Holguin has a team-leading 2.31 mark in 11.2 innings. Mizrahi (2.84) has struck out a team-high 18 batters in just 12.2 IP of work.