Alvarez, Pirates sweep away Rustlers

COSTA MESA -- The Orange Coast College baseball team let sleeping dogs lie on Friday and effectively took care of business with a 7-2 win over Golden West College at John Altobelli Park, earning a three-game series sweep over the Rustlers.

After a noisy and edgy win over GWC 24 hours earlier, Friday's Pirates (18-12, 6-6 in the Orange Empire Conference) kept themselves and the Rustlers quiet all day to earn the win and the first series sweep over the Rustlers (excluding the 2021 COVID season) since the 2014 state and national championship season.

Friday's hero for the Pirates was starting pitcher Jacob Alvarez, who needed a long and stress-free outing after the OCC bullpen worked hard during its first two wins over GWC this week. The freshman righty did just that, holding the Rustlers scoreless over 7 2/3 innings on just three hits with three walks and 10 strikeouts in a strong, 99-pitch perfornamce, improving his record to 3-1.

Alvarez retired 16 of his last 19 batters he faced and with the OCC bats giving him an early lead, it was smooth sailing on the mound against a GWC team that can put runs on the scoreboard at any given time.

The Pirates set the tone early, batting around the order in the first inning to grab a 4-0 lead. GWC starter Caiden Christianson (3-3) took the loss early control led to OCC's four-run opening frame. A hit-by-pitch and two walks loaded the bases for OCC with one out. Jake Wood singled to right to score Andrew Chorbagian for a 1-0 Pirate lead. Kael Corridan made it 2-0 with an infield single to third, which scored Tyler Covington (2-for-4, one run). A Flynn Barnes sacrifice fly put Coast up, 3-0 before Nathan Valencia capped off the frame with an RBI-single to center, which scored Wood.

In the bottom of the third, Coast used some two-out offense to add on to the lead. Valencia (2-for-4, one run, one RBI) reached on an infield single and went to third on a ground-rule double off the bat of Liam Stuppy. Chorbagian (2-for-3, two runs, two RBI) came through with a two-run double down the left-field line to score both Pirate runners, putting OCC up, 6-0.

An RBI-single off the bat of Zack Boynton in the sixth made it 7-0. Boynton finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

GWC (14-17, 1-11) avoided the shutout in the ninth with a pair of runs, but never got any closer as reliever Cristian Mares struck out Nick Salmon to end the game.

The win -- OCC's fifth straight in conference -- moves the Pirates into a three-way tie for fourth place in the always-deep OEC standings, joining Fullerton and Saddleback at 6-6 in conference play.

Coast will open up a three-game set with Riverside City College (22-9, 8-4) on Tuesday at John Altobelli Park, beginning at 2 p.m.