College Roundup: OCC clinches outright OEC crown

BASEBALL

Orange Coast 9, Irvine Valley 6

Sophomore first baseman Eric Wagaman hit a grand slam and Ramiro Velasco also homered to help the host Pirates clinch the outright Orange Empire Conference championship on Thursday.

With the win, OCC (31-8, 16-4 in conference), ranked No. 2 in the state, is two games ahead of second-place Riverside with one conference game left. Riverside lost to Santa Ana, 6-0, on Thursday.

Wagaman was two for five and scored twice. He now has 13 home runs and 43 RBIs this season.

Robert Teel was two for four, while Luke Hussung had a hit and two RBIs for the winners.

Ryan Randel earned the win to improve to 5-3 and Cameron Jabara, in his first appearance since March 23, allowed one run in the final 2 1/3 innings to record his first save.

OCC, which has 37 homers to just five for its opponents, closes the regular season on Friday at Irvine Valley.

Golden West 7, Fullerton 3

FULLERTON – Zakk Morgan went two for four with two runs batted in to lead the visiting Rustlers in the Orange Empire Conference game Thursday.

Jeremiah Vison was two for four with two stolen bases and two runs for the winners (19-20, 9-11 in conference), for whom Junior Aguilar and Aiden Cacciatore each had one hit and two RBIs.

Troy Bethel allowed one earned run in six innings to improve to 3-2.

Fullerton is 17-22, 5-15.

The two teams close out the regular season on Friday at Golden West.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Orange Coast def. Santa Monica

WOODLAND HILLS – The top-seeded Pirates earned a 25-22, 25-14, 28-26 sweep of the No. 4-seeded Corsairs in the semifinals of the California State Community College Athletic Assn. championship on Thursday at Pierce College.

Matt Ujkic led the winners (20-1 with 19 straight victories) with 13 kills. He hit .429.

Justin Kam hit .611 with 11 kills and a team-best four block assists, while Jordan Hoppe had 10 kills and a team-high five digs to help OCC hit .346 as a team, 222 points better than Santa Monica (14-6).

Colby Elder had 28 assists for the Pirates, who meet El Camino (12-7) in the state final on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Pierce College.

El Camino, the No. 7 seed, upset No. 3-seeded Long Beach, the defending state champion, 26-24, 25-17, 25-19, in the other semifinal.

El Camino, which upset No. 2-seeded Irvine Valley in the quarterfinals, lost in four games to OCC in the Pirates season opener on Feb. 1.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Double dual

LONG BEACH – Golden West College defeated Irvine Valley and Cypress on April 21 to earn a share of the Orange Empire Conference regular-season championship.

The Rustlers topped Cypress, 3-2, to earn the tiebreaker for postseason seeding, and topped IVC, 3-2.

Sophomore Baileigh Graham and Amanda Sosa, a freshman out of Huntington Beach High, earned wins at No. 4 doubles against IVC and Cypress.

Sophomore Samantha Ureno and freshman Melissa Martinez also defeated both opponents at No. 5 doubles for the Rustlers.

Golden West’s No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Kate Stanjevich and freshman Jasmine Gonzalez defeated the top team from Cypress.

Against IVC, the Rustlers’ No. 3 duo of freshman Ashleigh Astaros, a Huntington Beach High product, and freshman Erica Cantley won in straight sets.

The Orange Empire Conference pairs championships are Friday at Huntington Beach (Newland).

The state team and pairs championships are May 5-7, at West Valley College in Saratoga.