Oxnard Outlasts Hancock Baseball 6-3 in Conference Battle

Walker Armstrong hit a two-run home run to power the Allan Hancock College baseball team to an early lead, but Oxnard Condors clawed their way back to defeat the Bulldogs 6-3 in a Western State Conference game Tuesday afternoon in Santa Maria. The Bulldogs, who blanked Oxnard 5-0 last Saturday, fell to 1-3 in conference and 8-13 overall. The Condors improved to 1-3 in league and 11-10-1 on the year.

Elijah Ortiz allowed three runs, nine hits and issued four walks over five innings. He struck out two and did not receive a decision. Freshman Nate Alcantar took the loss to fall to 0-2. He allowed two runs, two hits and two walks over 1 2/3 innings of relief. Phil Almanza allowed one run and struck out one in one inning out of the bullpen. Dylan Maiden also threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief for the Bulldogs.

Hancock scored three times in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs and nobody on base, Quinntin Perez was hit by a pitch and stole second base. Brendan Gomez followed with a RBI-single to drive in Perez with the first run of the game. That's when Armstrong, who threw eight-shutout innings in Saturday's win over Oxnard, went deep for the first time in his collegiate career. The sophomore's two-run blast gave Hancock a 3-0 lead.

Ortiz was cruising along until the fifth when the Condors got to him for three runs on five hits to tie the game at 3-3. The game remained tied until Oxnard took the lead on a two-out, two-run single from pinch hitter Jesus Chavez to Oxnard a 5-3 lead. The Condors added an insurance run in the eighth.

Oxnard out-hit Hancock 13-to-4. Gomez, Armstrong, Wyatt Coll and Daniel Curiel each had one hit for the Bulldogs.

Hancock will return to action Thursday, March 16, at 2:30 p.m. at home against Moorpark.