COD Baseball grabs 9th straight, sweeps away the Eagles, 8-6

COD (23-12) finished off the season sweep and heads into their final IEAC series of the season only .5 game back of the first-place team, knocking off the Mt. San Jacinto Eagles (15-17-1; 6-11), 8-6.

Freshman right handed starting pitcher Kenneth Schechter (Newtonville (MA) Newton North) was handed the start for the eighth time this season and had his shortest outing of 2022. After two-thirds of an inning he was pulled due to an apparent injury after a pick off attempt at first ended up in deep foul territory.

Freshman right handed relief pitcher Matthew Sapakoff (Littleton (CO) H.S.) made his 13th appearance of the season and it was an unexpected one, pitching a gem. He tossed three and a third innings, tying a season high by striking out four in his second longest outing of the season.

Freshman right handed relief pitcher Marco Calderon-Lopez (Indio H.S.) made his 15th appearance of the season a memorable one as he grabbed his second win of 2022 on four innings of work, tying his longest outing of the season.

Freshman right handed relief pitcher Taishin Matsushita (Kofu (JPN) Senior H.S.) would wrap up the win with a brilliant ninth inning, entering the game with two runners in scoring position and no outs. Matsushita would carve his way out of the jam to grab his first save of the season.

Freshman center fielder William Owens (Crescent City (FL) H.S.) had another brilliant day in the outfield and at the plate as he went 4 for 5 with two runs batted in and three runs scored, including the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth, tying for the team lead in runs scored with 38.

Freshman short stop Dillon Baker (Tampa (FL) Carrollwood Day School) went 3 for 4 with a run scored and two RBI's out of the three-hole in the lineup. Baker is second on the team in hits with 50 on the season.

Freshman catcher Drake Bicknell (Sacramento Jesuit) went 2 for 3 with a run scored and freshman right fielder Brian Parry (Redlands H.S.) went 2 for 3 with two runs scored in the win.

The Roadrunners have three games in hand over San Bernardino Valley and are .5 games behind the Wolverines for the IEAC Championship with three to play next week. While this next week will conclude the Conference schedule for Desert, San Bernardino Valley still has a Conference series remaining against Cerro Coso, with two of the three games in San Bernardino.

College of the Desert Baseball will continue Inland Empire Athletics Conference (IEAC) play by hosting the San Bernardino Valley Wolverines on Tuesday, April 19 at 2:30p.

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For additional information, please contact the COD Sports Information Office at 760.423.6641.

Information & Story provided by COD Sports Information. Photo by Michael Leone Photography (f8leone@yahoo.com).