Scott Hong doing it all for Occidental baseball
Scott Hong (Glendale Community College, 2011) Occidental baseball senior: Once again, Hong is doing it all for the Tigers.
But after leading the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last season in saves, Hong has taken on the roll as starter when he’s not manning the outfield.
Hong leads Oxy in both wins and saves, as he’s posted a 4-0 record with four saves and has a complete game to his credit.
Hong has been brilliant to the tune of a 0.64 earned-run average with 29 strikeouts in 28 1/3 innings to just eight walks.
At the plate and on the bases he’s turning in stellar numbers, as well.
His 23 stolen bases lead the Tigers, as do his 24 runs, 34 hits and 20 walks. He’s batting .318 with 11 runs batted in, seven doubles and a pair of home runs.
Oxy sits at 20-9 and 11-7 in the SCIAC after defeating Redlands, 8-7, on Friday. Hong had a walk and a run in the game. Hong recorded a no-decision in his last start, which came earlier in the day in the first game of the doubleheader against Redlands. He struck out five, walked three and allowed six hits and one run in six innings of work.
In the first game of what was scheduled to be a doubleheader on March 23 at Oxy against Rutgers-Newark, Hong and the Tigers took part in what is believed to be the longest NCAA Division III baseball game of all-time, as Rutgers defeated Oxy, 8-5, in 23 innings.
Hong went one for seven with four walks and two runs scored and pitched six scoreless innings, giving up two hits, two walks and striking out eight.
The Tigers return to SCIAC play on Friday at La Verne.
Cory Popham (Glendale Community College, 2012) Pacific baseball junior: Popham was delivering a stellar season before it came to an unfortunate end.
On March 29 against Cal State Fullerton, Popham exited after just 2/3 of an inning due to an elbow injury. According to Pacific, the injury has ended his season and will force him to undergo Tommy John surgery.
Popham was dealt his first loss of the season by Fullerton, as he gave up four runs (all unearned) on one hit and three walks. It was hardly emblematic of his season, though, as he went 2-1 with a complete game in six starts, hurling 33 2/3 innings and posting a 2.14 earned-run average. He struck out 15 and walked 14.
Troy Mulcahey (Crescenta Valley, 2012) Fullerton baseball freshman: Mulcahey, a former All-Area Baseball Player of the Year, is turning in a successful junior college campaign while aiding mightily in the Hornets’ terrific season.
Mulcahey boasts a .368 average (28 for 76) and leads his team with nine doubles and 23 runs batted in. He also has 18 runs and eight walks in 24 games.
On the bump, the hard-throwing right-hander has been just as impressive, if not more so.
With six starts over eight appearances, Mulcahey sports a 2-2 record and a 2.01 earned-run average with 32 strikeouts to 24 walks in 40 1/3 innings.
Mulcahey’s longtime Falcons teammate, Troy Prasertsit, is also on the team, but has struggled with two hits in 18 at-bats in eight games played.
Fullerton improved to 22-7 with an 8-7 win over Orange Coast on Tuesday in an Orange Empire Conference victory and maintained first place in the conference with a 12-2 mark. Mulcahey, at designated hitter, had a run and a walk in the game batting in the three-spot.
The Hornets, who play Orange Coast on Thursday, are the top-ranked team in Southern California and have won 13 of their last 14 and three straight.
Eric Kleinsasser (Crescenta Valley, 2007) USC track and field senior: Finishing out his eligibility with the Trojans on the track after an ultra-successful tenure in track and in cross-country at Occidental College, Kleinsasser found success Saturday at the Cal State L.A. Invitational.
Running in the 10,000 meters mixed race, Kleinsasser won in 31 minutes 29.15 seconds, winning the race by an overwhelming margin of 1:30.74.
Erin Ashby (Crescenta Valley, 2011) Stanford softball sophomore: In her second season with the Cardinal, the former All-Area Player of the Year is making an impact.
Ashby has played in 37 of her team’s 39 games, starting in all 37 and is batting .279 (29 for 104) with a .433 slugging percentage thanks to eight extra-base hits (three home runs, three doubles, two triples). She’s driven in 19 runs, scored 12 and drawn 12 walks to help her to a .361 on-base percentage.
Currently at 27-12 and 5-7 in the Pacific 12 Conference, Stanford defeated Arizona State, 4-3, on Sunday to halt a three-game losing skid. Ashby — who went three for three in an April 6 loss to ASU — got the start at designated player and went one for three, driving in a run in the first inning on a two-out single.
Stanford was scheduled to host San Jose State in a nonconference game on Wednesday before a hiatus that will see it return to action April 17 in another nonconference tilt against Saint Mary’s before returning to Pac-12 play on April 19 in a series at Washington.
Nick Woodward (Glendale Community College, 2011) Hawaii Pacific senior: Woodward twirled four innings of two-run ball in his last start on Saturday, earning the win in a seven-inning game against University of Hawaii-Hilo that was the second stanza of a nonconference doubleheader.
Woodward wasn’t his best, allowing two runs in four innings on two hits and four walks to one strikeout, but it was enough for the victory, improving him to 3-1.
Pacific is 24-14 with six straight wins and is 14-12 in the PacWest Conference, where it will return to play on April 16 against Academy of Art.
Woodward has started twice in seven appearances and has a 5.87 ERA over 15 1/3 innings with nine strikeouts and 10 walks.