College of the Canyons baseball rallied for three runs in the seventh to take its series opener 6-5 over Bakersfield College on Tuesday, March 31 at Mike Gillespie Field.

Canyons (11-18, 4-6) manufactured a pair of runs on a Bakersfield wild pitch, an RBI sac-fly from Liam Ostrom and finally a solo home run from Michael Hogen to cap the scoring and provide the go-ahead run.

The three-run rally came after Bakersfield (14-15, 5-5) plated four runs in a productive sixth inning for the Renegades that included a pair of home runs and an RBI sac-fly.

COC starter Tyler Hawn was chased from the game following that sequence. He pitched five and one-third innings while allowing five runs on seven hits, including the pair of home runs and two walks. Hawn struck out three in the game and did not factor into the decision.

Colby Lipp (2-1) was called upon in relief and pitched a scoreless two and two-thirds innings to eventually earn the win. Lipp surrendered two hits with one strikeout before handing the ball to Ricky Sturm, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning to get his third save of the season.

On the other side it was Chance Gerecke suffering the loss for the Renegades. Gerecke (2-4) allowed all six runs on seven hits and four walks to go with five strikeouts.

Earlier in the contest Travis Van Ness doubled to left-center field giving the Cougars a 2-1 lead. In the fifth inning, Van Ness came around to score on Reid Farrell‘s RBI single that also brought Kotaro Kuwatani home.

Van Ness finished the game two-for-three with a walk, run and pair of RBIs. Farrell was two-for-three with a walk, run and RBI to help lead the way.

The Cougars and Renegades will continue the series Thursday, April 2, back in Bakersfield. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Canyons will then play host in the series finale at 2 p.m. Friday, April 3, from Mike Gillespie Field. That game will be live streamed to fans free of charge via YouTube on the Cougars Sports Network.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by visiting COCAthletics.com and on social media at @COCathletics on X, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.

Like this:

Like Loading…

Related