Vikings Drop Series Finale in Tight 7-6 Loss to Pasadena, but Take Two of Three in SCC Clash

The Long Beach City College baseball team wrapped up its South Coast Conference series against Pasadena City College with a narrow 7-6 loss in Saturday's finale. Despite the setback, the Vikings secured the series win after notching dominant victories earlier in the week, 8-3 and 16-11.

"This was a pretty good week for us," said Head Coach Casey Crook. "We got ourselves a series win against one of the top teams in the conference. I felt like we played competitive baseball all week, but unfortunately, we made too many mistakes today to hold the lead. Still, things are moving in the right direction."

After Pasadena struck first in the top of the opening inning, Long Beach quickly answered. RBIs from Ryan Lopetegui and Aaron Mingo gave the Vikings a 2-1 edge, followed by a two-run triple off the bat of Eshua Desai to extend the lead to 4-1. The Lancers chipped away in the fourth, taking advantage of a defensive error to cut the gap to 4-3.

The back-and-forth battle continued into the sixth, with Long Beach tying the game 5-5 thanks to Desai's third RBI of the game and an RBI triple from Danny Rodriguez. However, Pasadena regained control in the ninth, plating two runs on back-to-back RBI hits to reclaim a 7-6 lead that would hold.

On the hill, Max Ghiglieri got the start for the Vikings, tossing 4.0 innings and giving up four runs on four hits while striking out three. Reliever Niko Riera (2-1) was tagged with the loss, despite fanning six over 2.1 innings and allowing just two earned runs.

Long Beach will return to action on Tuesday, April 8, hosting Mt. San Jacinto in non-conference play. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.