Cougars Come Back For 6-5 Home Win Over West L.A.
By Mari Kneisel/COC Sports Information
College of the Canyons began its fourth conference series of the season with a come-from-behind 6-5 home victory over West L.A. College on Tuesday.
A rocky first four innings for Canyons (12-13, 6-4) created an uphill battle, but the Cougars pressed on scoring one run at a time to come all the way back.
COC freshman Albert Prado started on the mound, remaining four innings before handing the ball to Scott Bauman for the next three innings. Prado gave up four runs on four hits with three errors, two walks and recorded five strikeouts.
With a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the fourth, Rowan Teran set the Cougars offense in motion with a single, bringing Andy Ambriz home for the Cougars first run of the game.
Mikey Kane tacked on another run to cut the AVC lead in half at 4-2, when he sent the ball over the fence with his fifth home run of the season.
From the mound, Bauman managed to slow West L.A. (5-19, 2-8) down, giving up one run and three walks while serving six strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Canyons continued to push runs across one at a time. In the seventh Ambriz grounded out, making way for Kane to score. An error by West L.A. in the eighth gave opportunity for Ryan Camacho and Alex Garcia to score and tie the game at 5-5.
The Cougars diligence paid off when Steven Gonzalez singled, allowing Kane to score and give Canyons its first lead.
COC head coach Chris Cota looked to Xavier Stoker in the top of the eighth inning. Stoker (1-1) faced handled his three batters before handing the ball to Josh Yosfan to close out the ninth.
Stoker was credited with the win while Yosfan got the save.
Top Performers
- Mikey Kane – 2-for-4, HR, BB, R, 3 RBI
- Steven Gonzalez – 3-for-5, 2B, 3B, RBI
- Andy Ambriz – 0-for-2, 3 BB, R, RBI
- Rowan Teran – 1-for-5, SB, RBI
- Albert Prado – 4 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
- Scott Bauman – 3.1 IP, 4H, R, ER, 3 BB, 6 K
Upcoming Schedule
The Cougars are on the road for the second game in the series vs. West L.A. with the first pitch at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 31. COC is back home for a 1 p.m. start time for the final game of the series on Saturday.
Up next, the Cougars begin a series with conference leading Glendale College in a home-away-home series that begins April 5.
COC baseball home games will be live streamed to fans on YouTube via the Cougars Sports Network. Continue to monitor www.COCathletics.com for livestream links or subscribe to the COC Athletics channel on YouTube.
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.
—Photo by Kyle Kawamoto/COC Sports Information