Tigers’ freshman pitcher Andrew Martin stepped off the mound and took a deep breath. The weight of the moment – and his past struggles – rested on his shoulders. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth, Santa Ana College was threatening with runners on the corners, down by one. Martin silenced the noise, reset and dug his cleat back into the pitching rubber and tossed a sharp slider to send down pinch hitter Ben Melendez, ending the Santa Ana threat. Martin pumped his fist and yelled towards the Riverside dugout, his roar booming throughout Evans Sports Complex as his teammates joined in celebration.
Martin’s escape led the Riverside City College baseball team to a 4-2 Game 2 victory over Santa Ana and a series win April 24. With the win, RCC secured a second-place finish in the Orange Empire Conference and is now highly likely to host a regional playoff series.
“There was no question he was battling those thoughts of here we go again,” Tigers head coach Rudy Arguelles said on Martin’s outing. “He dug down deep and found a way to get out of that inning with the lead.”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Evan Stratton followed Martin in the ninth for his second consecutive appearance in the series, slamming the door shut to pick up his fourth save of the year.
“I love the pump that I get,” Stratton said on his closing role. “I love to see my team win, and I want to be the guy to get it done.”
A Creighton University commit, Stratton could still be used in different roles despite his success as the team’s closer, as Riverside prepares for a playoff push.
“Strat has the ability to be a true Swiss army knife,” Arguelles said. “He can do it in the front end, long relief, match up relief and he can close it down at the end of the game.”
Riverside’s offense struggled early, managing only one hit through the first three innings. They got on the board in the fourth, and a couple of innings later, a two-run seventh inning gave them a lead that they would not relinquish.
“We were too passive, and we compromised opportunities,” Arguelles said of the offenses’ early struggles. “They did a better job as it got deeper in the game, as far as putting together tough quality at-bats.”
Freshman lefty Jorge Rodriguez got the start on the hill for the Tigers and kept them in the game despite the offense’s slow start.
“It didn’t bother me, I knew my offense was going to do the job and score some runs,” Rodriguez said.
He finished the day going seven innings, allowing eight hits, one run and striking out six.
“I wanted to attack the zone and trust the defense,” Rodriguez said. “I know if I did what I needed to do, we would be fine.”
Santa Ana hosts Riverside in the regular season finale April 25 before RCC turns its focus to the postseason next weekend. The Tigers currently sit at No. 8 in the recent RPI polls, with a possibility of moving up to seven or six if they’re able to complete the sweep.
“We can go a long way,” Rodriguez said. “I have so much trust in our (pitching) staff, they can handle any situation … its going to be fun,” Rodriguez grinned.
