Posted: March 3, 2015 | Written by Edith Noriega & Dylan King

The Riverside City College Tigers baseball team were fortunate to pull out a 6-3 victory following a two game losing streak over the Santa Ana Dons, who scored three runs at the top of the eighth inning to erase a four run deficit.

Starting pitcher Angel Delgado pitched solidly through seven innings, until the Don’s Collin Winn and Julio Garcia got things started in the eighth with back to back doubles, which brought Winn home. Followed by Dillon Fetty scoring on a wild pitch and an Alex Mascare RBI grounder to shortstop, bringing in Cameron Bara.

“We gave him the opportunity, he was throwing such a good game but got behind a couple hitters with some close calls,” said RCC Assistant Coach Rolando Garza. “We had to give him the opportunity to kind of work and extend out, so hopefully for the next outing. It’s always a pitch at a time, and maybe next time he’ll work through that eighth inning.”

Tigers left fielder David Schuknect secured two runs with a single up the middle in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowing his team mates Brody Weiss and Tommy Pincin to score during the most critical point of the game.

RCC capitalized on Santa Ana’s confusion, as they made five pitching changes during the game, making their efforts a grind defensively, while allowing the Tigers to dominate the hit chart.

One of the impact players of the game for the Tigers was DH Garrett Dean, who had four hits, including a single to center field for an RBI in the sixth inning.

“It’s all about pregame preparation, getting focused, and staying involved in the game,” Dean said. “It’s kind of hard being a DH, trying to stay focused sometimes, but you just gotta stay focused.”

The Tigers marked their first conference win of the season against Santa Ana extending their home win streak to 10.

RCC looks to extend their home streak on March 5 versus the Saddleback College in a conference game. The Gauchos are 11-4 overall and 1-2 in the Orange Empire Conference.