Despite a terrific performance by sophomore pitcher Jordan Berg in the final four innings of regulation, the Moorpark Raiders were unable to secure the victory in extra innings against Oxnard College.
Five straight scoreless innings, only consisting of four hits combined, led these Western State Conference North Division foes into the 11th inning. This is where Oxnard was able to unleash their power hitters with two straight solo home runs to lead off the top of the inning.
The Oxnard Condors were able to capitalize on the 2-2 tie with their late-game dingers, which led to their 4-2 victory over the Raiders.
Moorpark, visibly frustrated with their late-game performance, left seven base runners stranded and were without an extra-base hit in the contest.
The Raiders did give themselves opportunities to score with many at-bats with runners in scoring position, thanks to their five stolen bases, but were overall unsuccessful in bringing them home.
“It’s the at-bats with runners in scoring position, those are more important than nobody on and a guy gets a single,” Moorpark Baseball Coach Mario Porto said. “Offensively we didn’t do a good job, we had guys in scoring position and didn’t get them home.”
Freshman outfielder Zach Nissim recorded three hits and two stolen bases, which set him up in scoring position multiple times.
“Zach had a great day, he hit the ball well today and he did a lot of good things, but he can’t hit one through nine,” said Porto.
Ever since the Raiders’ 7-3 victory over Ventura College, they have lost five out of their last six games by a 4.8-point average margin. All of these losses have been against conference teams.
The Raiders are currently tied for fourth place with a 5-7 conference record. Despite the skid that they are on, Moorpark is still in the running for the conference championship with first place being held in a tie by Cuesta and Ventura College at an 8-4 record.
“We’re never out of it, this conference is so tight and you never know what’s going to happen,” sophomore infielder James Terrazas said. “We have a lot of games left, so we’re just trying to come back and show what we can do.”
Moorpark’s next game will take place on Tuesday, April 2 at 2:30 p.m. at The Moorpark College Baseball Field.
