Pirates hang in there, rally late for win over Rustlers

HUNTINGTON BEACH -- Nothing like an 11-run 7th inning to turn all the frowns upside-down for the Orange Coast College baseball team as the Pirates somehow rallied for a 17-10 Orange Empire Conference win at Golden West College against the rival Rustlers on Thursday afternoon at Fred Hoover Field.

The Pirates (17-12, 5-6 in the Orange Empire Conference) pounded out 14 hits and took advantage of a couple errors and several hit batters and walks to overcome a 10-6 sixth-inning deficit. 

Jake Wood went 2-for-2 with a run scored and five RBI -- IN THE SEVENTH INNING ALONE -- to help spearhead the improbable rally. (He finished 2-for-4 with two runs and five RBI.)

The comeback began innocently enough when Liam Stuppy was hit by a pitch to lead things off. It was one of EIGHT Pirate batters plunked by GWC pitching for the game. A double by Andrew Chorbagian and an Alan Choo walk loaded the bases. Tyler Covington followed with a run-scoring walk to make it 10-7. Covington's free pass was one of TEN Pirate walks for the game. Zach Boynton singled in Chorbagian to make it 10-8 before Wood cleared the bases with a three-run triple to left field, putting OCC ahead, 11-10. 

But the fun was just getting started in the seventh ... 

Kael Corridan singled home Wood to make it 12-10. A Jake Haruki hit-by-pitch and an infield single by Stuppy set the stage for Chorbagian to clear the bases with a three-run double to left, putting the Pirates up, 15-10.

Walks by Covington and Boyton RE-loaded the bases for the third time in the frame and Wood capped off the double-digit frame with a two-run single to right-center to make it 17-10.

A key to OCC's win, amazingly enough, was it's pitching down the stretch. After giving up 10 runs on 10 hits and seven walks over the first five innings, Landon Veirs went to work and kept the Rustlers off the scoreboard over the next three innings, allowing just one hit, two walks and three strikeouts to pick up the well-deserved win (3-1). Cristian Mares struck out three in the ninth to slam the door on the Rustlers (14-16, 1-10).

Chorbagian went 4-for-7 with three runs and three RBI for the Pirates. Covington went 2-for-5 with three runs and two RBI, while Liam Stuppy added three hits, a walk and scored four times from the No. 9 spot in the batting order.

It was OCC's first double-digit inning since Feb. 22, 2023 when the Pirates scored 13 runs in the first inning of a 16-2 win over Long Beach City College.

Game three of this week's series with the Rustlers will take place on Friday at OCC's John Altobelli Park, beginning at 1 p.m.