SANTA ANA - With another balanced game, the Dons improved to 5-0 on the season with a 14-3 win over El Camino College-Compton Center. The Dons used nine runs in the first two innings to jump out early in support of Richard Diaz on the mound.
Ryan Aguilar wasted little time as he took the third pitch he saw and drove it to centerfield for a leadoff single to start the game. After JB Bryant drew a walk, Tyler Madrid singled through the right side to load the bases.
In the next at bat, Daniel Martinez hit a RBI-single to score Aguilar before Collin Nyenhuis plated Bryant on a fielder's choice. After two Dons were hit by pitches, Blake Walker singled in Nyenhuis before Aguilar hit a bases clearing triple that scored Julio Garcia, Geoff Schuller and Walker to put the Dons up 7-0 after one inning.
The Dons extended their lead to 9-0 in the second inning with Martinez scoring on Garcia's fielder's choice before Nyenhuis scored on a wild pitch.
On the mound, Diaz was cruising through six innings, allowing just one run on three hits. However, he ran into a little trouble in the seventh inning while looking for the third out. The Tartars got two more runs across on Diaz before he was replaced by Steven Perkins who promptly got the third out on a strikeout. Diaz (2-0) finished the game allowing three runs, all earned, on seven hits with eight strikeouts over 6.2 innings pitched.
The Dons offense, which failed to score a run through the middle innings, got back on the board in the sixth inning. Nyenhuis and Garcia each got a RBI-single in the inning with Madrid and Martinez scoring.
The Dons final three runs came in the seventh inning provided by a two-run, pinch hit double by Derek Meddings before Nyenhuis hit a RBI-triple that scored Meddings. Bryant and Madrid scored on Meddings' double.
Aguilar and Nyenhuis drove in three RBI apiece while Garcia and Meddings added another two RBI apiece. Martinez, Schuller and Walker each got one RBI in the win for the Dons.
Next up, the Dons travel to San Diego Mesa College on Tuesday, February 12 with the first pitch being thrown at 2:00 p.m.
