COMMUNITY COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Blyleven’s Five-Hitter Leads Cypress

Todd Blyleven pitched a five-hitter as Cypress defeated Orange Coast, 6-1, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Thursday at Cypress.

Blyleven (6-2) struck out eight, walked three and hit two. He was strong most of the way, struggling only in the second and ninth innings. He had yielded three hits before the ninth when he gave up two singles, but he got Daniel Hernandez to fly out to end the game.

“I really thought he was outstanding today,” Cypress Coach Scott Pickler said. “He did a super job.”

Cypress catcher Chris Hoffman, making his first start in conference, had two hits, including a two-run single in the seventh, to give Cypress a 6-1 lead.

Cypress (17-11, 6-8 in conference) had scored twice in the third on four consecutive singles off losing pitcher Ron Steves.

Hoffman lined a single to left and Charles Gipson bunted for a hit. Ryan Hamilton and David Newhan followed with RBI singles.

Cypress got two more runs in the fifth. Newhan walked, Greg Cole followed with an RBI double and later scored on a wild pitch.

OCC (11-8, 5-7) used a one-out throwing error by Cypress shortstop Robert Prince and an RBI double by Justin Halper to score its only run in the second. A groundout by Dusty Wathan and a walk to T.J. Graber left OCC with runners on first and third and two outs. Blyleven then faked a pickoff to third and threw to first. Graber was trapped off the base, but a balk was called.

Pickler argued and the umpires reversed the call, sending the runners back. OCC Coach Mike Mayne took his turn arguing with the umpires but lost. Blyleven then struck out Chad Ponegalek to end the inning.

In other conference baseball:

Saddleback 4, Golden West 2--Saddleback’s Mark Wells hit a two-run home run in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie for host Saddleback (11-9-2, 7-6-1). Nathan Malagron’s seventh-inning homer had given Saddleback a 2-1 lead. But Golden West got a run in the top of the ninth to tie it. Tom Waterman (4-4) pitched an eight-hitter with eight strikeouts for Saddleback. Golden West is 11-11-1, 4-8.

Riverside 8, Fullerton 4--Dean Funkhouser was two for four with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the ninth, for visiting Riverside (17-7, 8-4). Mark Rushlow had a two-run double for Fullerton (13-12-1, 6-8).

In Orange Empire Conference softball:

Orange Coast 2, Cypress 1--Alisha Nelson (10-4) pitched a one-hitter for visiting OCC (17-6, 7-2), which moved into a first-place tie with Riverside. OCC scored in the second inning on a bases-loaded walk to Stephanie Rogers. Cypress made two errors on the same play as OCC scored in the fourth to take a 2-0 lead. It was the third consecutive loss for Cypress (19-11, 6-4), the defending State champion.