Giants come from behind in first two baseball wins of season
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
College of the Sequoias' baseball team brought the rally caps to win its first two games of the season.
The Giants erased late deficits twice while winning two of three nonconference home games against Marin over the weekend.
Sequoias (2-4) trailed 6-4 through four innings and 7-5 after seven in the first game of an eventual 9-7 victory Feb. 2.
The Giants roared back with four runs against Marin (2-4) in the bottom of the eighth inning, highlighted by a pinch-hit three-run double by Benjamin Rodriguez (Tulare Western High) that scored Jackson Brooks (Exeter), Logan Schweizer (Sacramento) and Nate Gilson (El Diamante) for an 8-7 lead.
Rodriguez came around to score when a ball hit by Matthew Gonzales (Golden West) was played for an error.
Jacob Costa (Tulare Union) locked down the win for Sequoias with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Giants also scored four runs in the first inning, highlighted by Gilson's two-run single, and scored another run in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Jacob Jiles (Cesar Chavez-Delano).
Gilson, Jiles and Chase Gomez (Tulare Western) all finished with two hits to pace a 12-hit attack.
In the second game against Marin on Feb. 3, Sequoias fell behind 9-0 through the top of the third inning, and trailed 11-10 after the top of the seventh en route to a 14-11 win.
The Giants got back into the game with five runs in the fourth inning and four runs in the fifth.
Brooks' two-run single and a run-scoring single by Jimmy Wallace (Arizona) were the big hits of the fourth, while the same duo struck again in the fifth with Brooks blasting a three-run double and Wallace an RBI single.
Sequoias won the game with a four-run eighth that saw Jiles deliver an RBI double, Schweizer rip a go-ahead run-scoring single, Brooks scoring on an error and Wallace capping the rally with an RBI double.
Schweizer and Wallace each collected three hits, while Brooks, Gilson and Jiles had two apiece for an offense that produced 12 hits overall.
Julian Lopez (Fresno) allowed two runs over four innings of relief to earn the win.
The Giants lost the third game of the series 8-2 on Feb. 4.
Marin starter Jake Verwiel shutout Sequoias on two hits and two walks through six innings while striking out nine.
The Giants were down 8-0 before breaking through against Marin's bullpen with a two-run double by Chase Gomez (Tulare Western) in the seventh.
Schweizer finished with two of the team's seven hits.
Jace Vargas (Central Valley Christian) pitched two scoreless innings of relief in the third game for Sequoias, and four scoreless innings on the weekend overall, adding a two-inning outing in the first game.
Sequoias returns to action at 2 p.m. Feb. 9 in the opening of a three-game series at Cuesta (3-3). Games are also scheduled for 1 p.m. Feb. 10 and noon Feb. 11 in San Luis Obispo.
The Giants' next home game is scheduled for 2 p.m. Feb. 14 against Allan Hancock (4-1). Admission is $8 general and $5 for seniors and students.
