Cougars Club San Diego Mesa 18-4
Canyons (3-5) recorded 18 runs on 22 hits including home runs from Tyler Grodell, Will Chambers and Blake Mann.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
|
|
4 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 18 | 21 | 2 |
Story and photo by Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director
A day after dropping a one-run affair, College of the Canyons rebounded with a 22-hit output that resulted in a decisive 18-4 win vs. visiting San Diego Mesa College.
The 18 runs on 22 hits both represented season highs for Canyons (3-5) which had lost four of its last five entering Saturday's contest, including a 7-6 result at the hands of Rio Hondo College on Friday.
The Cougars had three players leave the yard vs. the Olympians (3-5) with Tyler Grodell, Will Chambers and Blake Mann each clubbing home runs in the first three innings.
That output gave COC starter JP Caire (1-1) all the support he would need with the Cougars leading 11-0 after the first three frames.
Caire allowed two earned runs on three hits and five walks across five innings to get the win. He struck out one batter before giving way to Sam Stulman in relief.
Despite the early advantage Canyons added seven more runs in the fourth to extinguish nearly all hopes of an Olympian comeback. Alex Ballesteros, Brendon Vela, Davis Cop, Grodell, DJ Kougher and Mann all drove home runs in the inning.
On a day in which the Cougars' offensive exploits were on full display Mann had perhaps the best performance finishing the game 5-for-6 with the homer, a pair of doubles, four RBIs and a pair of runs.
Grodell enjoyed a 4-for-5 outing that included a walk, a triple, a home run, three runs scored and three RBIs, while Chambers went 2-for-3 with a walk, four RBIs and touched home plate three times.
Cop, Jesse Parraz and Ballesteros each recorded three hits in the game
Stulman pitched two solid innings of relief, allowing just one run, before giving the ball to freshman Daniel Goodwin who went the rest of the way, limiting San Diego to one run in the top of the eighth.
The Cougars committed two fielding errors but made up for it by turning six double plays.
San Diego Mesa starter Dylan Madole took the loss after allowing the first eight runs. The Olympians burned through three more hurlers with just one, reliever Casey Nimmo, lasting more than an inning.
Canyons will play the final game of a four-game homestand at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 11, when Santa Ana College (7-1) comes to town.
Stay up to date on all this season's action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department on social media at @COCathletics on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube.