Tigers Go Long in Victory over Hornets

No. 7-ranked Riverside City College opened its final Orange Empire Conference series Tuesday afternoon with a 12-4 road victory over Fullerton College.

The Tigers improve to 28-10 on the year and 14-5 in the OEC, while the Hornets drop to 20-18 overall, 7-12 in conference.

Riverside finished with 10 hits, led by Luke Medure, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with three runs and three RBIs.

The Tigers struck first in the top of the second, scoring two runs off Medure's first hit of the night, a two-run homer.

Noah Haros (1-for-3) and Gavin Egan (1-for-4) caught the long ball bug and each hit home runs in the top of the fourth to up RCC's lead to 7-0. Haros drilled a two-run, first-pitch home run, while Egan knocked in three runs, also on the first pitch.

Fullerton got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, but Riverside wasn't done yet.

In the top of the seventh with one out, Grant Gray (2-for-3) tripled to right field to score two runners, before Medure drove him in with a double to left field. The Tigers tacked on two more runs – off a wild pitch and Isaac Castanon (1-for-1) RBI single – before the Hornets could get out of the inning.

The Hornets tried to put together a big inning of their own and scored three in the eighth, but it was all the Tigers would allow as they held on for the 12-4 victory.

 Jake Valenzuela picked up the victory on the mound with seven strikeouts in seven innings of action, while Brady Pavlovsky and Steven Gonzales each added two strikeouts in the innings they pitched.

Riverside and Fullerton continue the series on Thursday at 2 p.m. at Evans Park.