McDonald, Salazar Combine for Shutout in No. 6 Baseball Win over IVC

The No. 6 Riverside City College baseball team returned home on Friday afternoon to host the rubber match of a three-game series against the Irvine Valley College Lasers in Orange Empire Conference (OEC) action. Both squads found themselves in a tight ball game that saw strong pitching through the first half of the game. Riverside jumped ahead in the sixth inning by etching two runs on the scoreboard and never looked back leading to a 4-0 win.

Freshman right hander Brent McDonald (Murrieta, CA) climbed the hill for his second start of the season and his first conference outing of the year. He cruised through six frames and allowed just one hit in all but one frame where he retired the side in order following a lead off hit-by-pitch. He changed speeds effectively and set up his offense for success.

The Tigers broke through in the bottom of the fourth inning after sophomore designated hitter Jacob Barham (Long Beach, CA) and sophomore catcher Andrew Jurado (Riverside, CA) led off the frame with consecutive base knocks – Barham's knock going for a two-bagger. Freshman second baseman Jacob Rodriguez (Walnut, CA) pushed across the first run with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Barham. Freshman left fielder Joseph Hodapp (Murrieta, CA) pushed across Jurado with a single to center field two batters later leading to a 2-0 lead.

Freshman pitcher Alexander Salazar (Ohmi, Japan) relieved McDonald in the top of the sixth inning and continued the dominance on the hill. He forced the first batter he faced to ground into a double play.

The Tigers added two more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Sophomore shortstop Shane Martinez (Riverside, CA), who laid down a pristine bunt on the third base line, came around to score on a deep double to left-center blasted off the barrel of sophomore center fielder Erick Rayford (Chino Hills, CA). Rayford then came around to score on a passed ball thus handing the Tigers a 4-0 lead.

Salazar slammed the door in the ninth capping his appearance with a game ending double play.

McDonald earned his second win of the season after tossing 5.1 scoreless frames and scattering five hits. He fanned four batters in the process. Salazar earned the save after allowing a mere hit.

Barham led the team by going 3-for-4 with a run scored, while Rodriguez, Hodapp and Rayford each notched RBI.

The Tigers (18-8, 5-4 OEC) will continue action on Tuesday, March 27^th with non-conference game against Santa Barbara at home at 3 p.m.