Pirates knocked out of first

RIVERSIDE — Orange Coast College baseball coach John Altobelli said he would have liked to have seen more fight in the Pirates’ dog Thursday at Riverside City College.

But it was a propensity for handing out treats that wound up nipping at OCC’s chance for victory in the showdown for first place in the Orange Empire Conference.

The host Tigers (21-7, 9-2 in conference), ranked No. 12 in the state, held on for a 4-3 victory to assume sole possession of first and drop top-ranked OCC (21-5, 8-3), on a two-game losing streak for the first time all season, into unexpected underdog status.

OCC was on the verge of being shut out for the first time in 57 games until Walker Keller’s three-run triple put the tying run at third with one out in the ninth inning. But Riverside reliever Ryan Mota, who surrendered the triple on his first pitch after taking over for starter Matt Acosta, struck out Jacob White, then retired J.T. Navarro on a fly to right field to secure his first save.

Riverside exploded for three runs in the first off OCC sophomore Ryan Randel, a closer-turned-starter who was filling in for Cameron Jabara (shoulder ailment).

Randel, making his first start, was rocky. The 6-foot-7 University of Houston-bound right-hander allowed four hits, walked three and hit a batter, before exiting with one out in the third.

And while OCC relievers Doug Magee (2 2/3 scoreless innings) and Jacob Higareda combined to allow just three hits and no earned runs in 5 2/3 innings, they contributed to the Pirates’ seven walks (two of which scored) and four hit batters.

OCC also made two errors, the second of which was costly.

After Higareda walked Jack Bailey to open the Riverside sixth inning, Bailey sprinted to third when catcher Robert Teel’s attempted pickoff throw to first sailed into the right-field corner.

Bailey then scored on a wild pitch, giving the Tigers what proved to be the game-winning run without having to put the ball in play.

“The difference was, they had two freebies and we had 10 [seven walks and four hit batters],” Altobelli said. “We outhit them [9-8]. It’s just frustrating.”

Altobelli said the Tigers’ run in the sixth was most galling.

“That’s just things that kind of come back and bite you in the butt, and it came back and bit us in the butt,” Altobelli said of the walk, two-base error and wild pitch.

Acosta, who improved to 5-1, allowed just two OCC runners to reach second through eight innings. But sophomore designated hitter Ramiro Velasco lined a single up the middle to start the Pirates’ ninth.

After Jake Gozzo struck out, John Balliet walked and Nolan Powers blooped a single to right to load the bases and end Acosta’s complete-game bid.

After Keller’s triple, Altobelli said he considered calling for a squeeze, but ultimately elected to let White, who had singled in his two previous at-bats and was nine for his previous 16 at the time (.563), attempt to drive in the tying run.

“Whitey has been our hottest hitter, so I believed he should be able to put the ball in play,” Altobelli said. “And Navarro [who earlier extended his hitting streak to 11 games] has been hot, so I thought we had the right guys up there. But [Mota] made a nice pitch [to fan White]. They just got it done and we didn’t.”

White, Powers and Keller, who threw out a runner at the plate on a single to left in the seventh inning, were all two for four for the visitors, who tied their season-low with one extra-base hit.

OCC was without sophomore shortstop Travis Moniot (sprained ankle) for the second straight game.

The two teams conclude their regular-season series on Saturday at OCC at noon.

Orange Empire Conference

Riverside 4, Orange Coast 3

SCORE BY INNINGS

OCC 000 000 003 – 3 9 2

RCC 300 001 00x – 4 7 1

Randel, Magee (3), Higareda (6) and Teel; Acosta, Mota (9) and Grande. W – Acosta, 5-1. L – Randel, 3-2. Sv – Mota (1). 2B – Miller (RCC), Barham (RCC). 3B – Keller (OCC).