No. 15 LBCC Baseball Carts Hot Sticks in 14-3 Win over West L.A.

The No. 15 Long Beach City College baseball team played host to the West Los Angeles College Cougars on Friday evening in a rescheduled game due to rain. The Vikings brought the bats by banging out 12 hits and plating 14 runs en route to a 14-3 tromping over West LA.

The Vikings wasted zero time getting going at the dish by pushing across a run in the bottom of the first inning with sophomore first baseman Vincent Byrd II (Sacramento, CA) hitting in sophomore right fielder Jared Mayeda (Cypress, CA) with a sacrifice groundout.

After the Cougars scratched across two runs in the top of the second inning in response, the Vikings bettered their efforts by tossing up a three spot. Sophomore backstop Jacob Gotta (San Diego, CA) kicked off the outburst with single to right field, scoring freshman left fielder Collin Perez (Long Beach, CA). The Vikings utilized savvy base running by pulling off a double steal two batters later, allowing Gotta to cross the dish due to a stolen base from sophomore shortstop Antonio Monroy (Maywood, CA). Freshman third baseman Reese Berberet (Fallbrook, CA) capped off the inning by lining an RBI single up the middle, scoring Monroy leading to a 4-2 advantage.

After freshman starter Lorenzo Haycox (Long Beach, CA) allowed two runs in the first three frames, he settled into the fourth to throw up a zero which led to a huge offensive output of six runs for the Vikings the ensuing half inning.

Mayeda continued to cart a hot stick by kicking off the rally with an RBI-single to left field, scoring freshman center fielder Josh Agnew (Long Beach, CA) who reach base via walk and promptly swiped second. Freshman second baseman Tyler Wilber (Los Alamitos, CA) followed with a single down the right-field line, plating Mayeda and Monroy. He later forced a wild throw from the catcher on a steal, thus allowing Byrd II to trot home. Sophomore designated hitter Andrew Jaekul (Lakewood, CA) came up next and reach base via error, allowing Wilber to touch home. Gotta then capped off the inning by lacing a triple into the left-center gap, allowing Jaekel to come around to score and hand the Vikings a 10-3 advantage.

Byrd II did not want the scoring merry-go-round to end in the contest by launching a two-run homerun over the wall in dead center for his third homerun of the season en route to a 14-3 win.

Mayeda finished the day going 2-for-3 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. Gotta barreled three hits in five at bats that included a triple and two RBI Byrd II went 2-for-3 with a two-run jack as well.

Haycox earned the victory on the bump while allowing three runs off four hits, while sophomore reliever Cesar Gomez (Long Beach, CA) tossed five innings and recorded two strikeouts.

The Vikings will continue action tomorrow for a split doubleheader starting with a 10 a.m. game against Southwestern. They will then play Grossmont at 2 p.m. in a rescheduled game.