Roadrunners erupt for nine in third, hold off East Los Angeles 14-11
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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0 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 19 | 1 |
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3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 19 | 0 |
LOS ANGELES — Andrew Ruvalcaba drove in three runs, Mario Morton homered, and Nicholas Gonzales added five RBIs as Rio Hondo College rallied from a six-run deficit with a nine-run, third-inning to defeat East Los Angeles College 14-11 in the opening game of a South Coast Conference series on Tuesday.
Down 6-1 heading into the third, the Roadrunners sent 13 batters to the plate and collected 10 hits in the inning against relievers Juan Contreras and Javier Solis. Ruvalcaba singled home a run to start the rally, Elias Mota and Noah Lara followed with consecutive RBI hits, and Gonzales delivered the pivotal blow with a two-run single to center that tied the game at 6-6. Anthony Baez singled in another, Ruvalcaba came back up and singled in two more, and Diego Helguera capped the frame with an RBI single to push Rio Hondo's lead to 10-6.
Morton added a two-run homer in the fourth and Gonzales drove in a fifth run on one of his three sacrifice flies to push the lead to 13-6 through four innings.
East Los Angeles, which had built its early advantage on three unearned runs in the first inning off a Danyal Jenkins error, chipped away with a run in the fourth and seventh before Mahki Clark hit a two-run home run in the ninth to close it to 14-11. Christian Ortega worked around the damage and stranded the tying run to close out the game.
Morton finished 4 for 6 with two RBIs. Ruvalcaba went 3 for 5 with three RBIs. Lara had three hits, two doubles and a stolen base, scoring three times. Gonzales reached base three times and drove in five on zero hits, going 1 for 2 with three sacrifice flies and a walk.
Matthew Sandoval (1-8) earned the win despite allowing 12 hits and seven runs — four earned — over five innings, benefiting from the offensive support. Four relievers combined for four scoreless frames before Ortega yielded the late runs in the ninth.
Rio Hondo improved to 8-24 overall and 4-12 in conference play. Game 2 of the series is set for Thursday in Whittier.