Baseball Sweeps LA Pierce in Conference Opening Series

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - The Allan Hancock College baseball team swept the opening Western State Conference (North) three-game series against LA Pierce College. The Bulldogs move to 9-4 on the season after the weekend of action while the Brahmas fall to 2-10 overall. 

Niko Pecskovszky led AHC at the plate with a 7-for-13 finish, while Tommy Kendlinger was tops for the team with seven RBIs through the trio of contests. Jeremey Camarena, who appeared in two of the three games, led the way with a .800 batting average after going 4-for-5 in the box. 

Hancock will continue league play with another three-game showing against Moorpark College this week. They will travel to the Raiders on Tuesday (Feb. 27) and Saturday (March 2) while hosting on Thursday (Feb. 29) at 2 PM on John Osborne Field. 

GAME ONE: AHC 4, LAP 3 | BOX SCORE

Hancock struck first in game one after Isaiah Hernandez scored on a wild pitch. The Brahmas bounced back and took the lead after scoring twice in the second and once in the third. Pecskovszky cut the deficit with an RBI single in the sixth before the Bulldogs completed the comeback effort in the eighth. Ricky Smith used an RBI single to knot the score before Hernandez plated the eventual game-winning run with a sacrifice fly to center. 

Nick Brown earned the start but did not factor into the final decision after allowing three earned runs and striking out four batters through six innings. Austin Moccardini secured the win with two strikeouts and one hit through as many innings. Cooper Bagby collected his third save of the season after tossing the final two frames. 

GAME TWO: AHC 11, LAP 7 | BOX SCORE

Pierce got on the board early in game two after capitalizing on a passed ball opportunity in the second inning, but the Bulldogs bounced back with a five-run showing in the third. Two runners scored after LAP errors while Hernandez drove in one before making his way home on a balk. Owen Bolich rounded out the frenzy with an RBI single. 

Tommy Kendlinger added to the cushion in the fourth with an RBI single and closed the frame by scoring on a passed ball. The Brahmas plated one runner in the fifth, while both sides scored in the seventh. Hancock scored four in the frame after an RBI single from Hernandez and a double by Kendlinger that drove in three. Pierce answered with a three-run homer before plating their final two runs in the bottom of the ninth. 

Jaiden Turner picked up his second win of the season on the mound after five innings of work. He struck out four batters and surrendered one earned run after allowing five hits. 

GAME THREE: AHC 16, LAP 8 | BOX SCORE

The Brahmas got off to a hot start in game three with six runs in the opening frame while Hancock struggled to find their footing. The home crew cut the deficit in half in the second with two RBIs from Pecskovszky and one from Bridger Coleman, but Pierce answered once more after a batter was hit with the bases loaded.

The Bulldogs took the lead in the fourth after a sux-run rally, highlighted by a two-run triple by Stephen Espinoza and Coleman's double to center. Kendlinger, Camarena, and Dean Samuel also drove in one run apiece in the inning. LAP scored one final run in the fifth with a sacrifice fly before AHC rattled off seven unanswered runs through the next two innings to close the game. 

Moccardini picked up his second win of the weekend after tossing 4.2 innings in the middle of the game. He struck out one batter and scattered three hits with no runs earned during his tenure.