Stealing the season series Tigers take advantage of control issues, win two out of three games

SETH HAYGOOD STAFF REPORTER

A back-and-forth slugfest peaked with a seven-run fifth inning that propelled the Riverside City College baseball team to victory over Cypress College.

That rally on April 1 ignited a spark in every player on the Tigers, including freshman catcher Anthony Gibbons.

“(That inning) was really good,” Gibbons said. “It made us feel comfortable. Made us ease up a little bit on the defensive and the offensive side, so it was cool.”

From that point on, the momentum was too much for the Chargers and RCC ended up securing the win 17-11.

One of the Tigers’ key players was sophomore first baseman Adrian Arechiga. He started the fifth inning by scoring two of his six RBIs on the day.

“Each at-bat I just tried to not be tense and focus on staying in the middle of the field, getting my barrel to the ball and driving through it,” Arechiga said.

There were plenty of control issues with Cypress’ pitches not finding their target, causing some passed balls. The Tigers took advantage of those mistakes with extra stolen bases.

“(We) really just tried to hone in and stay diligent with the approach,” Riverside head coach Rudy Arguelles said. “(We were) trying to be patient and force them to come in the zone. I felt the guys offensively overall did a really good job.”

RCC had an extra edge to it’s play after Cypress snapped the Tigers 16-game win streak on March 31 that dated all the way back to Feb. 14. With the win, the team took the season series against the Chargers.

Early fielding struggles hurt the Tigers in the first couple innings.

“To be honest, I don’t know if we even really cleaned (the defense) up. We just happened to be on the fortunate side of a W and not an L,” Arguelles said. “Sometimes it’s like that. I don’t think that’s the