Cougars Get Clawed in 7-3 Loss to West L.A. Wildcats
Wildcats expose holes in the COC defense to earn first conference win.
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 3 |
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0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | X | 7 | 13 | 1 |
CULVER CITY, Calif. — The College of the Canyons baseball team could not overcome some sloppy defending and a complete game from West L.A. College's Jeffrey Davis in a 7-3 loss on Saturday afternoon.
The defeat snapped a brief two-game winning streak and was West L.A.'s first win in Western State Conference (WSC) play this season after losing its first 14 conference games.
This was a game the COC infielders would like to soon forget. The infielders were charged with three errors in the game, with one in the sixth leading to a blow that Cougars would not recover from.
Early on, the Cougars took the lead on a passed ball to score Cole Mears, who had singled to lead off the game, from third base. COC lead 1-0 after the first inning.
Canyons scored its second run in the fifth inning via a passed ball to plate Tyler Ryan.
COC could not hold onto the lead, however, and gave up runs in the fourth and fifth innings to trailed 4-2 throw the first five innings of play.
The floodgates were then opened in the sixth inning, as an error by shortstop Jose Haros extended the West L.A. portion of the inning and allowed the Wildcats to capitalize by scoring three runs with two outs to extend the lead at 7-2.
In the top of the ninth, the Cougars managed to push across one more run via a Chris Devery double to score Roy Verdejo, but it wasn't enough, and left the final score at 7-3.
Devery would finish the game going 1-for-4 with a ninth inning RBI. Devery is batting .299 with two home runs and 16 RBIs on the season.
COC starting pitcher Jesse Posey suffered the loss. Posey pitched four and 1/3 innings, surrendered seven hits and four earned runs while walking and striking out one batter. He now has a 3-2 record in nine starts this season and a 4.11 ERA.
The loss drops COC's record to 17-13 overall and to 9-6 within the WSC, South Division. The Cougars currently sit in third place and are two games behind division-leading Glendale Community College and one game behind L.A. Valley College.
COC's next game takes them on the road to Sylmar, California for the first game of a home-and-home series against L.A. Mission College at 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 14.