Riverside, Calif. - Concordia University – Irvine swept today's baseball doubleheader over the Golden Eagles, 7-1 and 5-2. Both games of the doubleheader were seven-inning contests, as agreed upon by both coaches prior to the start of the game. The loss drops La Sierra's record to 4-10 on the season.
Concordia took control early in Game 1 and kept the Golden Eagles off of the scoreboard until the final inning of the game. Concordia scored all of their runs in the first three innings of play, with three runs in the first inning and four runs in the third inning.
Matt Valenzuela finished with the game with three of the Golden Eagles five total hits. Valenzuela also drove in the only run for La Sierra, when he scored Adrian Gardea to break up the shutout bid by Concordia.
Game 2 was a tightly contested ball game with La Sierra striking first with a run in the first inning. Adrian Gardea's two-out RBI single to right field, scored Michael Gonzalez who started the rally with a two-double to right-center.
The Golden Eagles held the 1-0 lead until the third inning when Concordia's Matt Horton tripled to deep left-centerfield, scoring Kyle Jones and Dan Vande Gutche, taking a 2-1 lead. Concordia added a run in the fourth inning, pushing their lead to 3-1.
The Golden Eagles had a golden opportunity in the fifth inning after loading the bases with no outs. Gonzalez led the inning off with his second double of the game, which was followed by Dakota Heredia reaching base after being hit by a pitch. Gardea earned a walk, as La Sierra threatened. After a La Sierra strikeout, Concordia's Tyler Mark came out of the bullpen to get the final two out, allowing only one run on a sacrifice fly by Garret Larson that scored Thomas Martinez from third base, who entered the game as a pinch-runner for Gonzalez.
That proved to be the final threat the Golden Eagles would mount, as Concordia scored two insurance runs in the sixth inning, hanging on for the eventual 5-2 victory and completing the doubleheader sweep.
Gonzalez finished with two of the Golden Eagles four hits in Game 2, with Heredia and Gardea each picking up a hit of their own.
Starting pitcher Gabriel Gonzalez pitched four solid innings, allowing three runs on five hits, with two strikeouts and one walk.
The baseball team will be back in action on Friday afternoon when they host Simpson University. Friday's doubleheader is scheduled for an 11am start.
