By Oscar Martines
Despite a late comeback, the baseball team were unable to score enough runs as they fell to Mt. San Antonio College 6-4 on Saturday.
The Huskies were off to a good start although they did not record a run.
As the game progressed, Mt. SAC caught up in hits and overtook the Huskies in runs, leading to the Huskies’ eventual downfall.
With the first two innings ending scoreless, the Huskies showed up in the third to score the first runs of the game.
With two outs in the inning, catcher Michael Easter reached first base after an error by Mt. SAC’s second baseman.
Easter reached third base after the next two batters for the Huskies were walked.
With the bases loaded, left fielder Alex Mendez singled to right field, securing an RBI and the first run for the Huskies.
The Huskies would score again after designated hitter Daniel Vierra was walked, and on the next play, by a fielder’s choice, Vierra was out at second base, ending the inning for the Huskies with a 2-0 lead.
This lead would not last, however, as the Huskies gave up three runs to Mt. SAC in the bottom of the third.
After pitcher Francisco Dominguez allowed two batters to walk, Mt. SAC would respond with a double to far midfield, scoring two runs to tie the game.
Following another single, Mt. SAC scored again after an attempted double play by the Huskies was unsuccessful as the throw to first base arrived too late.
The Huskies closed out the inning with the score 3-2 in favor of Mt. SAC.
After the inning, the Huskies did not score another run until the top of the ninth inning.
During the scoreless innings, the Huskies found themselves close to scoring in the top of the fifth inning, with a player on third base, but Mt. SAC made sure to halt any momentum for the Huskies.
At the bottom of the fifth, the Huskies made way for Mt. SAC to score another run and increase their lead.
Following a double, and with a player now at third base, a base hit that bounced towards shortstop Richard Ponce was too high for him to reach, allowing Mt. SAC to score and push the lead to 4-2.
Moving on toward the bottom of the sixth inning, Mt. SAC found themselves in a sticky situation with two outs in the inning.
What could have been the end of the inning was instead a blessing in disguise for Mt. SAC as an attenpted catch made by Ponce to secure the out was dropped.
This allowed Mt. SAC to continue the inning with a player at first.
Following a walk, the next batter for Mt. SAC landed a single just near the foul line to left field to advance their base player from second to home to give them a 5-2 lead.
After a scoreless inning, Mt. SAC added one more run to stop the Huskies from having any hopes of completing a comeback.
On the first play of the eighth inning, second baseman Damien Delgadillo hit a home run to left field, amplifying the advantage to 6-2 for Mt. SAC.
Mt. SAC had another opportunity to increase the lead, but their inning would end after an attempt to steal second base was ruled an out by the umpire after he deemed there was interference from the player at bat that prevented the Huskies from getting the out on time.
The Huskies held their heads up high for the top of the ninth inning, with third baseman Michael McIntire being walked and Easter scoring a two-run home run to right field to put the Huskies behind by only two runs.
The home run was not enough for the Huskies as Mt. SAC found a way to close out the game and hand the Huskies a 6-4 defeat.