Center fielder Lucas Rocha had a pair of hits, including a double, and scored two runs to lead the Rio Hondo College offense in a 6-4 South Coast Conference loss on Tuesday at home against East Los Angeles College to open a three-game series.
The defeat dropped the Roadrunners to 11-16 overall and 4-7 in conference play. The series resumes on Thursday (April 5) at 2:30 p.m. in Monterey Park and wraps up on Saturday (April 7) at noon back in Whittier.
East Los Angeles (17-13, 7-5 SCC) jumped out to a 4-1 lead after three innings and never looked back. Trailing 1-0 in the first, Rio Hondo tied the game up thanks to an ELAC error that allowed Rocha to score.
The Huskies made it 5-1 thanks to a solo home run by Zech Jerrard, part of a 4-for-4 day at the plate for the ELAC left fielder.
But Rio Hondo cut into that lead with a pair of runs in the fifth and one more in the sixth. Tony Rosario came in to score on Marcos Rivas' ground out, Nick Ybarra lined a RBI single to drive in Rocha, and Aiden Gutierrez brought home Steven Mendoza with a single as well.
The Roadrunners had their chances late in the game but stranded eight runners over the final four innings of the contest.
Nicko Cottone put in a solid starting effort for Rio Hondo despite getting the loss. He went seven innings and allowed four earned runs and five hits. He struck out six and walked just one.
Baseball: Rio Hondo drops SCC series-opener to East Los Angeles
East Los Angeles
6
Rio Hondo
4
Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Los Angeles (17-13, 7-5) | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 3 |
Rio Hondo (11-16, 4-7) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 1 |
Posted: Apr 03, 2018