Pirates pick up impressive 8-4 win over Jaguars

COSTA MESA -- The 0-4 start to the season is quickly becoming a forgotten memory for the Orange Coast College baseball team as the Pirates used timely hitting and strong pitching to double-up visiting Southwestern College, 8-4, on Saturday, at John Altobelli Ballpark.

Andrew Chorbagian and Damian Felix each drove in three runs for the Pirates, who have won their fifth in a row and their ninth out of their last 10 games. Gibson Rath and Jake Haruki each scored twice and strong bullpen work from Geon Baek and Cristian Mares helped keep OCC's lead over the final three innings.

Facing of the toughest arms faced thus far, SWC's Ty Vann (2-1), OCC went to work early as Alan Choo took a 92-mph fastball into right-center field for a leadoff triple and scored three batters later on a fielder's choice grounder by Rath, putting Coast up, 1-0.

OCC starter, Jacob Alvarez kept the Jags (8-4) in check through the first two innings but a pair of walks were cashed in with a pair of well-placed infield singles, putting Southwestern ahead, 2-1. Alvarez through four innings for Coast, allowing just those two runs on four hits with three walks and three strikeouts.

The Jaguars, who dropped their fourth straight after a red-hot 8-0 start to the season, extended their lead to 4-1, but wasted a golden opportunity in the sixth to put the game out of reach. After back-to-back singles started the inning for the Jags, reliever Ryan Mullen worked out of the jam, thanks to an aggressive defensive play by Choo on a sacrifice bunt attempt, a fly out to center and a fielder's choice ground out, ending the threat.

With momentum shifting to the Pirates, Vann saw a SWC throwing error, a balk, a walk and a hit batter load the bases with nobody out. Chorbagian stepped up and battled Vann for several pitches before dropping an RBI-single to left, which moved up all the baserunners and brought the Pirates to within a pair at 4-2. 

OCC slugger Damian Felix then came up with the big hit of the game as we ripped a bases-clearing single to left-center, that left his bat at 102 miles per hour, giving Coast a 5-4 lead. 

With left-handed-heavy lineup for the Jags, OCC turned to southpaw reliever Geon Baek and the freshman kept the Jags off the scoreboard over the next two frames on just two hits, with no walks and a pair of strikeouts.

In the bottom of the seventh, one-out singles by Zach Boynton and Rath were followed by a run-scoring, ground-ruled double to left-center by Haruki and a two-run double down the left-field line by Chorbagian, extending the Pirates' lead to 8-4.

In the ninth, Mares worked around a single and a walk for a scoreless ninth to preserve the win for the Pirates.

Coast will return to the John Altobelli Ballpark on Thursday against L.A. Mission College, beginning at 1 p.m.