Cypress Loses, Now in Do or Die Situation
Nesbitt had two doubles Saturday afternoon. |
May 18, 2008
Final Stats
San Luis Obispo, Calif. - After winning two straight games in the Super Regionals, the Chargers found themselves in a rematch of the 2007 championship game against Riverside. Cypress needed a win to move on to the Final Four but stumbled allowing 16 hits in the 12-5 loss. The Chargers head immediately into a rematch where the winner moves on and the loser’s season ends. Sophomore right fielder Michael Nesbitt led Cypress with two doubles and an RBI.
Cypress fell on hard times early giving up three Tiger runs in the first while coming up scoreless themselves in the first after a double play. The Chargers matched the defensive effort in the top of the second ending the Tiger’s half inning with a double play of their own. Cypress then made up some ground with a two run inning in the second. Sophomore third baseman Eddie Agredano was hit by a pitch followed by a walk by freshman second baseman Garrett Leon. Freshman catcher Parker Berberet loaded the bases with a single. Sophomore center fielder Dennis Gerbasi induced an RBI walk to score Agredano. On the next play, Leon raced home to score after a wild pitch as Cypress cut RCC’s lead to one.
The Chargers ended the Riverside half inning in the third again with another double play and then battled offensively to tie it up. Freshman left fielder Jonathan Hurst led the half inning off with a single. After an out, sophomore first baseman AJ Smith singled to move Hurst to second. Hurst then advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a balk tying it up 3-3.
Cypress stumbled in the fifth allowing Riverside to pull away with three runs for the 6-3 lead. The Chargers tried to keep up with a run of their own in the fifth. Sophomore shortstop Tyler Marmion led off with a double and Nesbitt traded places with him on an RBI double for Cypress’s fourth run. With Nesbitt on second with no outs, he was left there as Riverside retired three Chargers in a row.
The Chargers came to within one again in the bottom of the seventh with a solo homerun from Marmion to make the score 6-5 in favor of RCC. Cypress then put runners on second and third but again left them stranded. Cypress’s offense dried up from there as the Tigers added one in the eighth and piled on five in the ninth handing Cypress the 12-5 loss.
Freshman pitcher Richard Hanson suffered the loss falling to 0-3 on the season. Hanson pitched the first 4.1 innings allowing six earned runs on 11 hits while striking out two. Sophomore Dale Harder pitched in relief allowing three earned runs on four hits.
Cypress falls to 31-18 and goes directly into game two against the Tigers this afternoon. This puts Cypress in a do-or-die situation. If they win, they extend their season at least two more games into the Final Four. A loss will end their season.
