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Leverson Delivers Walk-Off Single Dons' 7-6 Win
SANTA ANA, CA - The Santa Ana College (SAC) baseball team won its second game in the playoffs this season in the bottom of the ninth inning with a 7-6 victory over #11 Bakersfield College.
The Dons (35-11) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Matt Allen (Orange HS) led the inning off with a double to left field and later scored on an infield single by Casey Rihn (La Habra HS).
Bakersfield (30-18) answered in the top of the second inning with a lead-off walk by Tyler Garewal followed by a two-run home run by Jeff Burleson. The home run gave the Renegades a 2-1 lead.
James Davis (Garden Grove HS) tied the game at 2-2 with a solo home run in the bottom half of the second. Jake Eccles (Temescal Canyon HS) later reached on a passed ball on a strikeout. He advanced to second on Marcus Piazzisi's (EL Dorado HS) walk and later scored on a single by Allen, giving SAC the 3-2 lead.
The Renegades came back to tie the game in the third when Garewal hit a two-out triple and scored in the next at bat when Burleson hit a single to left field.
Bakersfield then took a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning when Tyler Kay hit a solo home run. It was the second home run surrendered by Dons' starting pitcher Brandon Pinder (Centennial HS).
The Renegades hit their third home run of the game and second two-run home run in the top of the sixth to take a 6-3 lead on SAC. This home run was hit by Casey Brown; it was his only hit of the day.
The Dons cut the lead to 6-4 in the sixth inning with a RBI single by Allen scoring Leverson who singled to center field. SAC put up another run in the seventh to pull within 6-5 on a RBI single by Davis scoring Derek Eligio (Esperanza HS).
Henry Buenrostro (Santa Ana HS) came in to pitch in relief of Nick Capito (La Quinta HS) in the ninth inning. Capito held Bakersfield scoreless in 3 1/3 innings pitched while striking out three batters. Buenrostro got the final two outs in the ninth inning to set up the Dons offense in the bottom half of the inning.
Eligio, Crispin Tarango (Diamond Bar HS) and Davis each drew a walk to load the bases. Leverson came up to bat with the bases loaded and no outs and delivered a high chopper through the middle of the infield that scored Eligio and Tarango for the winning run.
Buenrostro improved to 2-0 with the victory pitching 2/3 of an inning with a strikeout, a pop-out and no hits. The Dons advance to in the Super Regional tournament and will face #5 Southwestern College who defeated #4 Irvine Valley College 6-5. The Jaguars also won their game in their final at bat. NEXT: Santa Ana vs. Southwestern, Saturday, May 17 at 11:00 a.m. |
