Warriors Earn Series Win over Vikings After Offensive Explosion

TORRANCE, Calif. - The El Camino College Warriors baseball team won their third consecutive series in a row after defeating the Long Beach City College Vikings 16-12 on Thursday afternoon at Warrior.

The Warriors improved to 25-12 overall and 15-8 overall.  The Warriors have won 8 of their last 9 conference games.  

The offense utilized two big innings and capitalized on 7 walks and 5 hit batsmen from the Vikings pitching. Almost every starter got at least one hit in the game or scored at least one run. Dylan Mares went 2-for-2 at the dish with two runs and 3 RBIs, Lucas Bonham was 2-for-4 with 2 runs and 3 RBIs, and Jack Nammack was 1-for-4 with 5 RBIs after hitting his second homerun of the season.

Adrian Pineda tossed 4 innings allowing just two runs on four hits, zero walks, and fanning 3 batters. Kona Agena picked up the win after pitching the bulk of the relief work and allowing four runs in three innings of work.

The Vikings led first after scoring twice in the bottom of the first to take a 2-0 lead.

However, the Warriors were able to get those two runs back after loading the bases on three walks. Dylan Mares and Gio Crow both worked walks to tie the game at 2-2 in the first.

The Warriors had their first of two big innings in the third inning as they put up a 6-spot. Slater Nunez brought in Gil Solis on a knock after Solis had a one out double to make it a 3-2 game. The Warriors loaded the bases and added another run on a fielder's choice to make it a 4-2 game. The Warriors kept the bases loaded after an errant throw by the third basemen to home made everyone safe. Jack Nammack took immediate advantage of the situation after depositing his second blast of the season over the LF wall for a grand slam to make it an 8-2 game.

The Warriors followed up their 6-run third inning with a 5-run fourth inning to blow open an 11-2 lead. Dylan Mares doubled in Slater Nunez for the first run of the inning after Nunez was hit by a pitch. The Warriors loaded the bases yet again after Gio Grow and Aden Laureano were both hit by a pitch. Nammack brought in a run on a sac fly, Ryan Matsukawa singled in a run on an infield single, and Lucas Bonham brought in two more runs on a knock through the left side.

After holding the Vikings scoreless from the second-thru-fourth inning, the Vikings began slowly chipping away at the lead and scored in every inning from the 5th inning on.  The Warriors added three insurance runs in the 5th and 6th innings to pad their lead. The Vikings scored 3 runs in the 8th and 9th innings to make things interesting and bring the lead within four but the Warriors were able to see out the win.

The Warriors will close out conference play on Saturday at Long Beach as they go for the sweep. They will then close out the regular season next week with two games against the top two teams in the Inland Empire Athletic Conference at Chaffey and the College of Desert.