Freshman Gavin Windes (St. John Bosco HS) had a big game at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a run and RBI in a 6-2 Long Beach City College loss to visiting Grossmont College on Wednesday. The non-conference defeat dropped the Vikings to 9-7 overall.

Windes had three of the Vikings' six hits on the day including a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first inning to drive in freshman Tony Monroy (Warren HS). After that, Long Beach couldn't get much going offensively against Grossmont starting pitcher Craig Grubbe.

The Griffins (12-5) rallied for a pair of runs in the second and added a third off LBCC starter Michael Hurtado (Warren HS) when Travor Beard came in to score on a balk.

Trailing 3-1, freshman Vincent Byrd II (Sacramento, CA/El Camino HS) got the Vikings closer when he lined a RBI single to bring home Windes in the sixth. But Grossmont put the game out of reach in the seventh as Noah Strohl smashed a three-run home run off LBCC reliever Erikson Fish (Sitka, AK/Sitka HS) to close out the scoring.

Hurtado (2-3) took the loss despite turning in a solid start on the mound. He settled down after a shaky second inning and went six, allowing two earned runs and five hits.

Grubbe improved to 3-2 as he allowed two runs and six hits over eight innings, He struck out eight and walked two.

Windes improved his batting average to .397 on the season. He's been on fire in March with nine hits in 17 at bats (.529) with 5 RBI.

Long Beach returns to South Coast Conference action on Thursday (Mar. 10) at 2 p.m. when the Vikings resume a three-game series with Pasadena City College at home.