A rough sixth inning for the Irvine Valley baseball team turned what was a tight game into a 7-2 loss to Cypress in an Orange Empire Conference game on Thursday at home.
Irvine Valley trailed, 3-2, heading into the top of the sixth inning, but Cypress put three runs on the board to take a 6-2 lead and never looked back.
Cypress has now taken the first two games of the three-game series.
Irvine Valley, ranked No. 14 in Southern California, saw its record slip to 17-14 overall and 5-9 in conference, while No. 5 Cypress improved to 20-10 overall and 7-7 in conference.
Cypress stayed in a three-way tie for third place in the conference with Saddleback and Golden West. IVC fell into seventh place in the standings.
Cypress led, 2-0, after two innings.
But Irvine Valley answered and tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with two runs.
Freshman left fielder Wyatt McGinnis hit an RBI single to left and then freshman center fielder Nick Jacobson singled to center to bring in another run and tie the game at 2-2.
Cypress went back on top, 3-2, in the top of the fifth inning on a RBI single by Brandon Alamo.
And in the sixth, Cypress scored three runs on two hit batters, two hits, a walk and a sacrifice fly.
With the bases loaded and one out, Chase Sebby squeezed in a run with a bunt.
Cory Wildhagen then walked to bring in another run. Later in the inning, Willie Aguilar hit a sacrifice fly to score Trevor Fonseca and give Cypress a 6-2 advantage.
Cypress finished with nine hits on the day. Alamo went 3 for 5 with two RBI to lead the Chargers.
IVC had six hits. Freshman second baseman Colin Conroy went 2 for 4 for the Lasers.
Kenneth Pettibone earned the win in relief for Cypress. He pitched shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks.
IVC sophomore right-hander Tyler Venturelli took the loss. He gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits and one walk with one strikeout in 5.1 innings.
Sophomore Matt Markus pitched 3.1 innings of relief for the Lasers and gave up one run (unearned) on two hits with three strikeouts.
Irvine Valley and Cypress conclude the series on Friday at Cypress at 2 p.m.
