Community college baseball: Pirates stun Riverside

RIVERSIDE - The Orange Coast College baseball team answered a 3-0

deficit and snapped two-time defending state champion Riverside’s 16-game

winning streak with a 6-5 Orange Empire Conference road victory Tuesday.

Coast (25-8, 10-7 in the OEC) is the first OEC team to defeat

Riverside (32-5, 15-2) on its home field this season.

OCC sophomore Glenn Hedgpeth, who led off the in the ninth inning,

crushed a first pitch over left-center field for his seventh home run of

the season, that gave the Pirates a 6-4 lead.

In the bottom of the ninth, OCC sophomore Scott Beerer came on in

relief to earn his first save of the season. There were Riverside runners

on the corners when Beerer induced a batter to chip a line drive to third

base for the final out.

OCC sophomore Jeremy Lahmann smashed his 12th home run of the season,

a solo shot in the sixth, that tied the game, 4-4.

Sophomore Ryan Marcos went 3 for 4, while Chris Sinner finished 2 for

5 for the Pirates, who also received a steady pitching performance from

freshman Kyle Allen. Allen retired the side in order in five of the six

innings he pitched, recording three strikeouts and walking none.

The Bucs host Santa Ana, Thursday at 2:30 p.m., in a pivotal OEC game.

ORANGE EMPIRE CONFERENCE

Orange Coast 6, Riverside 5

Orange Coast 000 121 101 - 6 9 1

Riverside 120 010 001 - 5 8 1 Williams, Allen (3), Beerer (9) and Hanson; Jones, Smith (9) and

Robles. W - Allen, 2-0. L - Jones, 7-3. Sv - Beerer (1). 2B - Rodriguez

(R). 3B - Sinner (OCC). HR - Lahmann (OCC), Hedgpeth (OCC), Hilt (R),

McCarthy (R).