Long Beach City College Baseball head coach Casey Crook will have to wait two more days for his next chance to become the college's all-time wins leader. Currently tied with Joe Hicks at 513 victories, Crook and the Vikings suffered a 5-1 non-conference loss to visiting Oxnard College on Tuesday at Joe Hicks Memorial Field.
LBCC, now 4-5 overall, hosts Grossmont College on Thursday (Feb. 18) at 2 p.m.
Long Beach totaled nine hits in Tuesday's contest but left 11 runners on base and committed three errors.
Viking starting pitcher Michael Hurtado (Warren HS) allowed three runs and six hits over four innings. Leading 3-1, Oxnard (3-5) put the game out of reach with a two-run, eighth-inning.
LBCC scored its lone run in the bottom of the third inning. Freshman Tristin Chamberlain (Millikan HS) drew a one-out walk and came in to score three batters later on a RBI single by freshman Gavin Windes (St. John Bosco HS).
The Vikings had their chances to get back into the ball game. In the seventh, LBCC had runners on first and second with one out, but pinch hitter Jared Mayeda (Los Alamitos HS) hit into an inning-ending double play. And in the eighth, the Vikings had runners on first and second with no outs and were still unable to score.
Sophomore Tai Tiedemann (Poly HS) and Windes both had two hits to lead Long Beach at the plate. Tiedemann's hot start to the season continues as he is hitting .500 while Windes leads the Vikings with 11 RBI.
Ryan Abraham (1-1) pitched well to earn his first win for Oxnard. He scattered six hits and allowed one run over seven innings.