Matt Orozco, Benny Olguin, Michael Santana, and Lorenzo Llorens combined for a 3-hitter, and despite 12 walks allowed, the Pasadena City College pitching staff persevered in the Lancers baseball team's 8-5 win over Oxnard Tuesday at Brookside Park's Jackie Robinson Memorial Field.
Olguin picked up the win in relief (two innings, no hits, two runs, five walks) but it was Llorens who was the best of the bunch as he hurled three innings of no-hit ball with perfect control and four strikeouts for the save.
PCC (5-3 overall) scored five runs in the second inning for a commanding 5-0 lead, but the walk-a-thon helped Oxnard (5-5-1) to rally to tie it at 5-5 with three runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. In the sixth, the Lancers pulled ahead, 6-5, when third baseman Marco Martinez grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that scored Cole Pilar, who had singled earlier in the inning. Martinez didn't receive an RBI there, but in the eighth he launched a drive over the left field fence for a 2-run homer and insurance runs for the Lancers.
Centerfielder Gabriel Arellano had a big day by going 4-for-5 with a double to raise his team-best batting average to .462. Pillar was 2-for-2 off the bench at catcher. Leftfielder Edward Manzo (1-for-2, double) reached base four times, including drawing three walks. Shortstop Ryan Lewis was 1-for-3 with two walks, two RBI and a stolen base.
Since going 5-1 to close the 2016 season, the Lancers have been very tough to beat at their off-campus home. In this period, Pasadena is 35-17 (.673 win percentage), including 2-0 this year at JR Field. The team's homestand continues Wednesday, Feb. 20 when PCC takes on Glendale, last year's SoCal Playoff opponent. First pitch is 2 p.m.