Irvine Valley's baseball team dropped its second straight game to Saddleback as part of an Orange Empire Conference series Thursday afternoon at the OC Great Park.
The Lasers couldn't get enough going on offense against Saddleback left-handed starting pitcher Dylan Singh in a 5-1 defeat.
Singh and Gaucho righty reliever Ryan Cullinane held the Lasers to one run on six hits.
Singh went 6.1 innings and gave up one run (non earned) on five hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Cullinane then entered and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings.
Irvine Valley sophomore left-hander Nate Madole battled and got out of some tough jams early, but took the loss. His record went to 1-3 overall. Madole pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four runs on 11 hits and one walk with three strikeouts.
Freshman Sammy Murphy finished off the game for IVC and pitched well. He went 3.2 innings and allowed one run on two hits and one walk with two strikeouts.
The Gauchos scored a run on a sacrifice fly in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead and then increased their advantage with three runs in the top of the third. The big blow was a two-run double by Lance Gardiner.
Irvine Valley scored its lone run in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by freshman shortstop Nick Madole to make it a 4-1 game.
Jacob Naso had an RBI single for Saddleback in the top of the eighth to finish the scoring.
For Irvine Valley, freshman first baseman Casey Kudell and freshman designated hitter Adrian Reveles each had two hits. Kudell up his team-leading batting average to .388.
The Lasers and Gauchos end the series on Friday at Saddleback at 2 p.m.
The game can be streamed live at (271) April 8th Saddleback College Bobcats Baseball Verses Irvine Valley Lasers - YouTube
