Late Rally Falls Short, Hancock Drops 5-4 Decision at LA Pierce

For the second straight game, a late rally ended one-run short as the Allan Hancock College baseball team dropped a 5-4 conference game at LA Pierce on Thursday afternoon. Hancock fell 6-5 to the Brahmas on Tuesday. The Bulldogs dropped to 3-3 in Western State Conference play and 5-9 overall. LA Pierce improved to 3-3 in conference and 6-9 for the season.

Hancock trailed 5-2 headed into the top of the eighth inning when Tim Mahoney delivered a RBI-double to score Ellis Geruss-Turner who drew a walk. After Zach Lampreia drew a two-out walk, Angel Guillen doubled to score Mahoney to make it a 5-4 game and move Lampreia to third.  Pablo Gonzalez came in from the LA Pierce bullpen and struck out Carver Tippett to end the rally. Hancock went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Pierce struck for four runs on five hits in the third inning against Hancock starting pitcher Lucas Martin. Martin, a sophomore left-hander, allowed 11 hits and five runs over five innings. The Lompoc High School graduate issued one walk and struck out five. He dropped to 0-2.

Diego Rodrigues and Chance Miranda combined to throw three shutout innings of relief for the Bulldogs. Rodriguez went 1 2/3 innings and walked two, fanned two and allowed one hit. Miranda struck out two and walked on in 1 1/3 innings.

The Bulldogs scored single runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Gerrusi-Turner doubled home Colton Studebaker to make it a 4-2 game. Pierce scored another run off Martin in the fifth to make it 5-2, when Studebaker doubled home Colby Barrick in the sixth to make it a three-run game.

Hancock collected 10 hits, while Pierce finished with 12. Barrick, Studebaker, Gerussi-Turner and Guillen had two hits apiece for the Bulldogs. Four Brahmas had two hits each.

Hancock returns to action on Saturday at Oxnard. First pitch is at 1 p.m. Onxard is 3-1 in conference and 8-2-1 overall.