Irvine Valley's baseball team won its second straight game and capped a busy week with a 7-2 nonconference victory at San Diego Mesa on Thursday afternoon.
Irvine Valley went 3-1 on the week and nearly won all four games. Its lone loss was a 7-6 defeat in extra innings to Grossmont.
The Lasers improved their record to 8-4 with the win on Thursday.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Tyler Venturelli was the star, throwing eight solid innings and giving up just two runs. He scatted nine singles, didn't allow a walk and struck out five batters.
He moved his record to 3-0 on the season.
The two runs were the first two he has allowed all season. In 24.1 innings pitched so far, he has an ERA of 0.74.
Freshman Dominic Dipaolo closed out the game in the ninth for the Lasers with a scoreless inning. He gave up one hit and had two strikeouts.
At the plate, sophomore shortstop Tyler Odekirk continued to shine. He went 2 for 3 with a walk, one run scored, two stolen bases and one RBI. Odekirk is now hitting a team-best .431 with 18 runs scored and 10 RBI on the season.
Freshman right fielder Zack Stack was also 2 for 3 with a walk, a run scored and one RBI. Sophomore designated hitter Alec Ceniceros was 2 for 4 with one RBI.
Freshman third baseman Ryan Rafferty and freshman catcher Ryan Gaynor each also drove in a run for IVC.
Irvine Valley trailed, 2-1, after four innings, but tied the game in the top of the sixth with on an RBI double by Ceniceros.
The Lasers then scored two runs in the top of the seventh to take the lead for good and put the game away with three runs in the eighth.
Rafferty drove in the winning run in the top of the eighth inning with a sacrifice fly. Odekirk later scored in the inning on a passed ball to give IVC a 4-2 advantage.
Irvine Valley plays again on Monday against San Diego Mesa at 11 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for this Saturday, but with the impending rain, was pushed back to Monday.
