With seven runs scored in the first inning, the Hawks beat the American River College Beavers 17-6 on April 22 at Conway Field.
In the bottom of the first, freshman designated hitter Angelo Luna hit a three run homerun, taking the lead after the Beavers scored the first run of the game with a double. The Hawks cycled through the lineup where leadoff batter Chase Christenson, sophomore center fielder, hit a single, scoring two more runs ending the inning with a six-run lead.
“We wanted to keep it going, honestly. I know I made the first out and there were two outs when I went back up and I didn’t want to make two of the outs in the same inning, so it was something like that where it kind of just keeps us going,” Christenson said.
Sophomore shortstop Brayden Murua hit a double which scored sophomore second baseman Ryan Dechaine from third base.
Sophomore catcher Noah Canter then hit a two run homerun, reaching 10 runs by the end of the third inning.
Every game needs to be played like the season is just starting, and with a lot more baseball left the team needs to stay plugged in to move on and win series, said assistant coach Scott Haynes.
“Just handle our business, do what we need to do, stay within ourselves and it doesn’t matter who’s across the way, we just need to worry about ourselves,” Haynes said.
The game time totaled over two hours with long offensive innings that continued to fuel the Hawks to score more runs.
In the top of the sixth inning the Beavers scored three more runs off of a homerun. There was then a pitching change in the following inning from sophomore starting pitcher Ben Pernetti to freshman pitcher Ty Collum.
The team’s mentality has been hot and they plan to just keep it rolling, having good at bats, keeping the ball down in the zone and score runs to win games, Pernetti said.
After another home run hit by the Beavers, the Hawks came back and scored an additional four runs solidifying their lead.
“Just understanding that anything could happen in baseball, like the momentum can shift and we don’t wanna wake any sleeping dogs. So we kept putting pressure and eventually we got the result we wanted,” Canter said.
The Hawks closed their last conference series with the Beavers 2-1, losing Friday’s game 9-3. They start playoffs this week and will be playing away at Skyline College on Friday and Saturday.
“The confidence that we just got from here is just gonna just bring us more together and make us a stronger team all around you know,” Luna said. “We have this thing where we play hard all nine, all 27 outs because you never know what can happen. If we just think we’re gonna win and we just give in, they can take advantage of it and the tables could turn.”