The weather may be cooling down and getting wet in the Inland Empire, but the Tigers stay hot. 

The Riverside City College baseball team swept their second doubleheader in a week as they took down the Ventura College Pirates on Feb. 8. 

In game one Riverside was led by Freshman lefty Jorge Rodriguez who delivered seven scoreless innings while striking out seven en route to a tight 4-1 victory.

“The (pitching staff) has displayed what we anticipated for the most part so far,” Tigers head coach Rudy Arguelles said.

In game two the Tigers battled the Pirates tightly through five when starter Jack Wheaton was relieved for Evan Stratton with runners on second and third and no outs. 

“My first outing didn’t go the best, so I really wanted to take advantage of this opportunity,” Stratton said.

Stratton who was making his first appearance since opening weekend escaped the jam with a pair of strikeouts to ignite Evans Sports Complex. 

“He was probably taking that ball trying to prove a point, and that’s how you prove a point,” Arguelles said. 

The offense came alive in the bottom half of the inning putting up eight runs all coming with two outs. 

Leading the charge for the Tiger offense was sophomore designated hitter Marc DiCarlo Jr. who tallied three hits and two RBIs to go along with his two-hit performance in game one. 

“It’s all about doing our job and having a team-oriented mindset,” DiCarlo said on the offense gameplan. “The team requires more than the individual.”

DiCarlo has been a bright spot in the middle of the Riverside lineup after starting the season in a platoon role. 

“Praise God, stay humble, and work hard,” DiCarlo noted on his keys to his recent success. 

Stratton would go two more innings finishing the night with eight strikeouts in three innings of work flashing a low 90s fastball and a wipeout slider. 

“I think we have the best pitching staff in our conference and maybe even the state,” Stratton said. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the year and seeing how well we do.”

RCC has now won four in a row since their first loss of the season, three of which have come without standout shortstop redshirt sophomore Eddie Alfaro. Arguelles noted that Alfaro was injured prior to the Tigers game against Barstow in pregame warmups and is currently sidelined with a concussion. 

“We feel he’s moving in the right direction in terms of his recovery,” Arguelles said. “We’re hoping he’s available by next weekend.”

The Tigers return to action on the road at Grossmont Feb. 14. 

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid,” Arguelles conveyed to his team. “We haven’t accomplished anything at all yet.”