SANTA ANA, Calif. - Although the Dons fell behind early in the last home game of the 2021 season, they fought their way back to defeat Orange Coast (19-6-1, 13-4) 9-5 in OEC action on Thursday afternoon. 

Santa Ana (14-11-1, 11-6) found themselves down 3-0 after two and a third innings but began to chip away until exploding to take the lead in the sixth inning. 

The rally began when Garet Crenshaw singled to right field to score Cedrick Perez, tying the game at 4-4. Micah Pietila-Wiggs came right behind him with another RBI single to take the lead and give the Dons all the momentum. A couple batters later, Nick Lopez came up with the bases loaded but left them clear after hitting his eighth home run and first grand slam of the year. 

Santa Ana came out of the sixth inning with a 9-4 lead, which was enough to hold on for the win. 

Knolton Clark got the start and went four innings, striking out six and giving up four runs on three hits. Emmanuel Niebla took the ball in the fifth and had a quality performance to hold OCC to one run over three innings. The freshman struck out two and earned his first win of the season. Chase Hennessey closed the door on the Pirates as he threw a scoreless two innings to secure the win for the Dons. 

The Dons will finish the 2021 season with a doubleheader on Friday at Orange Coast College. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.