Community College Roundup : OCC Wins First Conference Game : Highly Regarded Pirates Rally to Defeat Saddleback, 7-3

Orange Coast College finally got its first Orange Empire Conference baseball victory with a 7-3 decision over Saddleback Tuesday at Saddleback.

OCC (11-4-1), expected to contend for the conference title with Cypress, lost its first three conference games before Tuesday.

Saddleback had early leads of 1-0 and 3-2, before OCC scored two runs in the sixth, and never trailed again.

OCC’s Scott Talanoa opened the sixth with his fifth home run of the season. Craig Nixon later had a sacrifice fly to give OCC a 4-3 lead.

The Pirates got two more runs in the seventh on a bases-loaded walk to Darrel Conner. Jason Young later scored on a wild pitch.

OCC’s final run came in the ninth on a double by Marcus Glenn and an RBI single by Nixon, who had three RBIs.

Ryan Thibault (4-1) pitched 7 2/3 inning for the victory. David Ross (2-1) pitched five innings and took the loss for Saddleback (7-4, 1-3).

In other Orange Empire Conference baseball:

Cypress 16, Golden West 5--Host Cypress had 16 hits and scored five runs in the third and seventh innings. Rich Lodding (3-2) worked the first seven innings, allowing three earned runs, for the victory.

Steve Gill had four hits and three RBIs for Cypress (15-4, 3-0). Jason Friedman had two hits, including a two-run home run and Kevin Schula also hit a two-run home run for Cypress. Schula’s home run came in his first at-bat and second of the season. Cypress’ Bobby Thome carried a 15-game hitting streak into the game but was held hitless in three at-bats.

Josh Bammer had three hits, including his second home run for Golden West (8-5, 2-1). Frank Herman also had two hits and two RBIs for Golden West.

Rancho Santiago 8, Riverside 5--Jack Bailey (3-0) worked seven inning, allowing four earned runs for host Rancho Santiago (10-6, 3-0). Tim Reynolds and Conrad Colby each had two-run doubles as Rancho Santiago scored four runs in the fifth. Rob Nay struck out the side in the ninth inning for his second save. John McTaggart hit a two-run home run in the first inning for Rancho Santiago. Riverside is 2-10, 0-4.

In nonconference softball:

Cypress 7, Long Beach 3--Rose Ferrante and Kerry Callahan had RBI triples as Cypress scored four runs in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie. Ferrante was two for four with three RBIs, and is hitting .406 for the season. Callahan was two for two. Colleen Moore (10-2) went seven innings for the victory for Cypress (15-3). Cypress trailed, 3-0, after three innings but scored three runs in the fifth to tie before the winning rally in the sixth.

In Orange Empire Conference men’s tennis:

Rancho Santiago 5, Golden West 4--Omar Sary and Mike Bains won, 6-4, 6-1, at No. 2 doubles to clinch the match for host Rancho Santiago.

In nonconference men’s tennis:

Saddleback 9, Long Beach 0--Host Saddleback, the top-ranked team in the state, rolled past Long Beach, the eighth-ranked team. Saddleback is 8-0.