Baseball team picks up two wins on a one of a kind Saturday

Baseball team picks up two wins on a one of a kind Saturday

The Irvine Valley baseball team picked up two wins at home on Saturday, one of them in interesting fashion.

The Lasers started Saturday by continuing their game from Thursday at San Bernardino Valley that was halted due to darkness tied, 12-12.

IVC played on its own field, but was the visitor and wore its blue jerseys. The game was picked up where it left off – in the top of the 10th inning with two runners on and two outs.

The Lasers battled through five more innings before coming away with a 14-12 victory in 15 innings. The game – over two days – went nearly five hours in length playing time.

Irvine Valley pushed across two runs in the top of the 15th on a RBI single by sophomore catcher Collin Villegas and a RBI groundout by sophomore left fielder Kyle Dobson.

The Lasers' normal shortstop Robert Haw pitched six innings on Saturday (and seven total going back to Thursday) and earned the win. He gave up just four hits with seven strikeouts over his seven total innings.

Offensive highlights for IVC included Villegas going 5 for 7 with a double, two walks and four RBI, Dobson going 4 for 8 with two RBI, sophomore third baseman Dante Faicchio finishing 3 for 7 with two doubles, a walk and two RBI and freshman right fielder Bradley Wilkison ending 3 for 5 with two doubles, a walk and three runs scored.

The two squads then met in their regularly scheduled Saturday afternoon game.

As the home team, with their traditional white jerseys on, the Lasers earned a 5-3 win behind a strong effort on the mound from freshman right-hander Steve Hayden.

Hayden went six innings and allowed one run on four hits and one walk with three strikeouts. Hayden improved to 3-0 on the year.

Freshman righty Joshua Ribera pitched the final three innings and got out of some trouble in the top of the ninth to protect the win.

He gave up two runs on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Ribera earned the save.

IVC jumped on San Bernardino Valley with three runs in the bottom of the first inning. Faicchio had an RBI single and sophomore first baseman Hank Schineller had a sacrifice fly as part of the scoring.

San Bernardino Valley scratched across a run in the top of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Mason Smith.

But the Lasers answered with a run in the bottom of the fifth and then added a run in the bottom of the eighth on a RBI single by freshman second baseman Shane Kary to go ahead, 5-1.

The Wolverines made it a 5-3 game after a two-run double by Jesse McGonigal in the top of the ninth with two outs. McGonigal also became the potential tying run. But Ribera got Smith to fly out to left to end the ballgame.

The two wins improved Irvine Valley's record to 9-6 overall, while San Bernardino Valley dropped to 5-9.

IVC won despite only having five hits. Faicchio went 2 for 4 with two runs and one RBI to pace the offense. Faicchio is batting .390 with a .627 slugging percentage and 22 RBI on the season. All are team highs.

The Lasers did turn in solid defense throughout the second contest, including getting a couple of standout plays from Haw at shortstop.

Irvine Valley College provides this web space for the use of its faculty, staff and other representatives of the college for the purpose of furthering the educational goals of the institution and enhancing the academic experience of its students. This is the official web site of Irvine Valley College Athletics. The data, statistics, photos, rosters and schedules used on this web site were gathered by the IVC Sports Information Office. Other web sites containing information about Irvine Valley College Athletics not within the official college web site may not be accurate. Questions or comments about this web site can be directed to bshaver@ivc.edu

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