Vikings Drop Series Opener to El Camino, 6-1
The Vikings fell to ECC 6-1 on Tuesday afternoon.
The Long Beach City College baseball team couldn't get the bats going in Tuesday's South Coast Conference opener, falling 6-1 to the El Camino College Warriors at home.
The Vikings were stymied at the plate by a dominant performance from the Warriors' starting pitcher, who kept LBCC off balance throughout the afternoon. Head Coach Casey Crook acknowledged the challenge his hitters faced.
"I'm going to tip my hat to the Warriors' pitcher—we couldn't do a thing against him," said Crook. "We are going to rally the troops so we can come back and compete on Thursday and stay alive for the playoffs."
Long Beach starter Aaron Mingo (1-1) took the loss, allowing five runs (three earned) over three innings of work. The Warriors struck early, pushing across five runs in the third inning, capitalizing on timely hits and a couple of costly defensive miscues.
The Vikings' bullpen provided some stability as Thomas Adair and Johann Gibbs held El Camino scoreless through the middle innings. Cesar Corrales closed out the ninth, allowing an unearned run on a sacrifice fly.
LBCC's lone run came in the eighth when right fielder Ryan Lopetegui delivered a sacrifice fly to left, scoring pinch hitter James De La O to make it 5-1. But the Vikings were unable to mount a late comeback, and El Camino added one more insurance run in the ninth.
The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday, April 17 at El Camino College at 2:00 p.m.
