ESCAPING THE EAGLES
The Hornet baseball squad scratched and clawed past the Eagles of Mt. San Jacinto College at home Wednesday afternoon with a solid 5-4 victory.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 2 |
|
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2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | X | 5 | 8 | 3 |
The Hornets struck early behind the bat of Diego Vazquez, who put together a strong performance at the plate. Vazquez opened the scoring in the first inning by ripping an RBI triple to center field to bring home Jake Starr. He then came around moments later on a Luke Viola RBI groundout to give Fullerton a quick 2-0 advantage.
Vazquez wasn't done as the sophomore shortstop launched a solo home run to left field in the third inning that pushed the Hornet lead to 3-0. Vasquez finished the day 2-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.
Mt. San Jacinto battled back plating 3 runs across the middle innings to tie the game, but the Hornets responded with timely execution and pressure on the bases. In the seventh, Fullerton regained the lead when Luke Viola reached on an error allowing Nate Pone to score the tying run. Moments later, Sean Green delivered the decisive blow by lining an RBI single up the middle to score Vazquez putting the Hornets ahead for good at 5-4.
Green had a big afternoon going 3-4 with an RBI, while Starr chipped in a 2-4 performance and scored a run. Pone added a double, a walk, and a run scored, helping keep the pressure on the Eagle defense.
On the mound, the Hornets used a steady bullpen effort to close things out. Nico Rodriguez earned the win with 2.1 scoreless innings of relief allowing no hits while striking out two. Murdoch Taylor slammed the door in the ninth working around traffic to secure his first save of the season.
Fullerton finished with 8 hits on the day and capitalized on key moments late, outlasting Mt. San Jacinto in a game that featured multiple lead changes and momentum swings.
Up Next: The Hornets (2-2 overall) will travel down south to Palomar College this Saturday, January 31st for a non-conference matchup. The first pitch goes out at 12:00 pm.
