Irvine Valley's baseball team wasn't great offensively in its Orange Empire Conference opening game against Fullerton at home on Tuesday.
But the Lasers didn't have to be.
The four runs they pushed across in the bottom of the fifth inning were more than enough for sophomore pitchers Austin Reynolds and John Stevens.
Reynolds and Stevens were both on point.
Reynolds gave up just one unearned run in seven sharp innings and Stevens closed the door with two scoreless frames as IVC defeated Fullerton, 4-1.
The Lasers, ranked No. 12 in Southern California, improved their record to 13-5 overall.
No. 8 Fullerton saw its record slip to 10-7 overall.
The two teams continue the three-game series with a game at Fullerton on Thursday at 2 p.m.
Reynolds gave up just seven hits and two walks and struck out five batters in improving his record to 3-0 overall.
Stevens earned a save after allowing just one hit and striking out three in his two innings.
IVC scored its runs in the bottom of the fifth on just two hits. Helping the Lasers' cause were three walks, three wild pitches and two passed balls.
Freshman second baseman Colin Conroy, who singled to lead off the inning scored the first run of the game on a passed ball.
Sophomore right fielder Cole Joy, who walked, later scored on a wild pitch, as did freshman catcher Ryan Gaynor to make it a 3-0 IVC lead.
Freshman center fielder Grant Rockefeller knocked in the Lasers' fourth run with a groundout.
Conroy had a big day for the Lasers, going 3 for 5 and Joy was 2 for 4 with a walk.
Thomas Delgadillo went 2 for 3 with a run scored and John Zanze was 2 for 4 for the Hornets.
Garrett Molnar took the loss. He went 4.1 innings and gave up three runs (one earned) on four hits and five walks with four strikeouts.
