Vikings Power Past Mt. San Jacinto with 15-6 Victory

The Long Beach City College baseball team exploded offensively on Tuesday afternoon, rolling past Mt. San Jacinto 15-6. With the win, the Vikings improve to 19-13 on the season and continue their postseason push.

"It's good to get a win—every win is a good win at this time of year," said Head Coach Casey Crook. "We're trying to stay in position to make the postseason. Our offense is hitting good right now."

Long Beach set the tone early, plating three runs in the bottom of the first. Eshua Desai opened the scoring with an RBI single, scoring Caleb Brandon. The Vikings then took advantage of a pair of defensive miscues by the Eagles, scoring twice more on an error and a wild pitch.

In the second inning, LBCC extended its lead to 4-0 on a double by Danny Rodriguez that brought in Logan Thurman. Aaron Mingo added to the offensive outburst in the third with a two-RBI double, scoring Desai and Sabin Tomlinson to push the lead to 6-1.

The Vikings capitalized again in the fourth inning. Rodriguez scored on an error, and Cross Stephens delivered a clutch two-RBI double to left, plating Tomlinson and Desai to make it 9-1.

Mt. San Jacinto responded with a series of runs in the middle innings, including one in the third and a four-run rally in the seventh, but the Vikings' offense proved too much to overcome.

The Vikings tacked on six more runs over the final two innings. In the seventh, Kyler Gloth brought in a run on a sacrifice bunt. In the eighth, Gavin Murphy delivered an RBI single, and the Vikings continued to pour it on with contributions from Brandon, Rodriguez (RBI double), Max Ghiglieri (sacrifice fly), and Gloth (RBI single), sealing the 15-6 victory.

On the mound, Aaron Mingo (1-0) earned the win with five solid innings, allowing just one unearned run on four hits while striking out two. Kethan Vaquera, Alex Yin, Adrian Arellano, and Benjamin Dorantes combined for the final four innings. Dorantes was particularly effective in relief, tossing 2.2 scoreless innings with three strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

The Vikings will be back in action on Friday, April 11 at Cuesta College at 2 p.m.