By Carlos Alvarez
The ELAC baseball team winning streak reaches three with a victory over Pasadena City College, 7-0. A crowd of close to 100 in attendance for a Tuesday evening game at Cal State LA saw the Huskies take control of the game early.
After winning two out of three against El Camino College, they began this three game series against Pasadena with an offensive bang. The Huskies collected a total of 12 hits in the game with captain first baseman Manny Estevez collecting four hits and driving in three runs.
Freshman third baseman Michael Aguilar also added three hits in the victory, to provide a plug in the bottom of the line up. “We have a good line up, as long as we continue to make adjustments we should keep doing well,” said Estevez regarding the offense recent success.
The Huskies scored early and often chasing Pasadena starting pitcher freshman Brett Smith out of the game, recording a run in four of the first five innings. The Lancers helped the Huskies scoring opportunities by committing five errors in the game.
Four of those errors coming in the first two innings resulting in a 2-0 lead for the Huskies after three innings. “It was a sloppy game from our part early, but they took advantage and they scored,” said Pasadena freshman pitcher Brian Cuiriz.
Cuiriz relieved freshman pitcher Trevor Gleason in the seventh inning with the Huskies ahead 7-0. Cuiriz came in an pitched two scoreless innings recording three strikeouts, but the damage was done.
While the offense sudden spurt comes as a surprise the consistency of the pitching staff continues to shine bright. Freshman pitcher Elias Novelo (1-4) continued his dominant pitching, throwing eight scoreless innings while only giving up five hits and collecting four strikeouts.
Novelo earned his first victory of the season for the Huskies, but that is more on the lack of run support the offense has provided him in his previous starts. “It feels good pitching with a lot of run support, knowing you have some cushion to work with,” said Novelo when asked about pitching with the lead.
Novelo’s’s only trouble was in the top of the fourth inning when after recording two quick outs he allowed two consecutive singles and hit the next batter to load the bases. With the bases loaded, Novello gained his composure and got Lancer freshman first baseman Daniel Gomez to ground out to the shortstop to escape the jam.
“I felt good. I was hitting my spots and also working good with Walter Aguilar our catcher,” said Novelo on his performance. The Huskies for the first time all season put together a complete game both offensively and defensively.
“We are playing as a team, our chemistry is good hopefully it continues on Thursday,” said Novelo. The Huskies travel to Jackie Robinson Memorial Field at Brookside Park, where they will face the Lancers for the second game of this three game series, beginning at 2 p.m.