Riverside Splits Doubleheader with Santa Barbara

The Riverside City College baseball team hosted the Santa Barbara City College Vaqueros for a doubleheader on Thursday in non-conference action. The Tigers pounded Santa Barbara in the opening game, 12-5, but dropped the second game behind a sluggish offensive showing.

The Tigers barreled 13 hits in the opening contest accompanied by a strong pitching performance from sophomore hurler David Butler.

Butler toed the slab and got off to a rocky start by allowing a base hit on his first pitch of the game which eventually led to the game's first run. After that, Butler settled in and tossed four scoreless frames.

His second inning was his strongest as he struck out three batters looking, followed by two more strikeouts in the third inning; both swinging. He mirrored his third inning by recording two more strikeouts swinging in the fourth frame, backed by his final frame where he worked out of a mini jam to preserve a six-run advantage.

The Riverside offense struck immediately by score a combined seven runs in the first two frames. They began by posting a four spot in the first with freshman catcher Anthony Gibbons scoring on a wild pitch. Sophomore left fielder Adrian Arechiga followed a batter later with a two-RBI single up the middle, plating sophomore right fielder Matthew Bardowell and sophomore center fielder Casey Murray Jr. Riverside continued to pour it on as freshman designated hitter Dominic Dominguez sent home Arechiga on a single up the middle.

The Tigers followed with a three run second inning jumpstarted by Gibbons scoring on an error by the Santa Barbara third baseman. Dominguez came up a batter later and sent Bardowell home on a sacrifice groundout. Sophomore shortstop Sebastian Flores capped the inning with a single to left field, plating Arechiga, to grab a 7-1 lead.

After not scoring in the third inning, the Tigers etched at least one run in the following three frames highlighted by a three-run fourth inning. Flores comtinued to push across runs with a sacrifice flyout to right field, scoring Bardowell. Freshman first baseman Bryce Cermenelli followed with a fielder choice to plate Arechiga, backed by a RBI single from sophomore third baseman Beau Betten to push their lead to 10-1.

Arechiga continued to be a huge factor in the bottom of the fifth inning by sending home Gibbons on a sacrifice flyout. Cermenelli finished out the RBI streak for Riverside with a single up the middle in the bottom of the sixth inning, plating Flores, eventually leading to a 12-5 win.

Butler (6-2) finished with eight punchouts in five innings of action. He allowed a mere four hits and one run. 

Gibbons paced the offense by going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a walk, while Flores went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored.

Bardowell scored three times and walked just as many, while Arechiga touched home three times while driving in four runs on a 1-for-2 day at the dish.