Dons Stay Atop OEC Standings with 17-5 Win over Cypress College

Alex Mascarenas reached base in all six of his plate appearances, including this RBI-single in the seventh inning of the Dons 17-5 win over Cypress College.
Alex Mascarenas reached base in all six of his plate appearances, including this RBI-single in the seventh inning of the Dons 17-5 win over Cypress College.

SANTA ANA - The Dons scored early and often in their 17-5 win over Cypress College in their final home game of the regular season. The win keeps the Dons (24-11, 13-7) tied for first place in the Orange Empire Conference standings with Orange Coast College after the Pirates defeated Golden West College 8-1.

The 17-run outing began with five runs in the first inning, with all five runs scoring before an out was even recorded. Garret Brown highlighted the first inning with his two-run single that scored Joshua Vargas and Alex Mascarenas.

Brown added his third RBI of the game in just the second inning when he singled in Mascarenas to put the Dons up 6-0. After Cypress scored three runs in the third inning to cut the Dons lead in half, Nestor Linares scored in the bottom of the third on an error.

Another Cypress run came across in the fourth inning before the Dons had a three-run inning in the bottom of the fourth. Troy Baird plated Mascarenas with a sacrifice fly before Linares drove in Aguilar with a bunt single. Finally, Daniel Martinez, Jr. scored when Frankie Nogales reached on a fielder's choice.

Mascarenas scored for the fourth time in the fifth inning when he was forced home when Martinez was hit by a pitch. That run came in after Cypress scored its fifth run in the top of the fifth inning.

The Dons had another five run inning in the sixth inning with Mascarenas singling in Cameron Baranek, Brown driving in a pair of runs with a double and Martinez drove in another two with a single.

The final run came across in the eighth inning with Ryan Aguilar plating Baranek with a sacrifice fly.

Daniel Ferrell (5-1) picked up the win for the Dons after pitching two innings in relief while allowing one run on one hit. Matt Esparza (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season for Cypress after allowing five runs on two hits while not recording a single out.