COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Banuelos Provides Spark for Pierce’s Run to Title

Ricky Banuelos registered his fourth consecutive two-hit game and Erik Martinez hit a home run Wednesday, leading Pierce College to a 13-2 win over East Los Angeles in the championship game of the Grossmont baseball tournament in San Diego.

Banuelos was named the most valuable player of the eight-team tournament. He was eight for 13 with five runs batted in in the tournament. Pierce (26-6) collected 13 hits off three pitchers in the finale.

Earlier in the day, Pierce had 12 hits in a 19-4 win over Santa Monica.

The tournament title was the third this season for Pierce. The Brahmas also won the Glendale-Citrus and Mt. San Antonio College tournaments.

In another Grossmont tournament game:

East L.A. 10, Mission 1--The Free Spirit (13-15-2) scored in the seventh inning to avert a shutout but Mission could not score enough runs to stave off elimination.

The game was called after the seventh inning because of a time limit.

In other baseball games:

Hancock 11, Canyons 1--Hancock scored seven unearned runs to win a first-round game of the double-elimination Hancock tournament.

Canyons’ Damon Paikos (1-5) gave up only a solo home run by Ryan Radmanovich through five innings, but Hancock struck for two unearned runs in the sixth.

Paikos was relieved after the first two batters reached base in the seventh and Hancock went on to score eight times in the inning.

Mike Kerber led Canyons with two hits.

Cal Baptist 17, The Master’s 8--Greg Biley hit two home runs to lead host Cal Baptist (12-24) to an NAIA District 3 victory.

Biley hit a bases-loaded home run in the sixth and a bases-empty home run in the eighth.

Four other home runs were hit, by Rob Martin and Matt Musselman of Cal Baptist and Darin Brebes and Dan O’Sullivan of The Master’s.

SOFTBALL

Utah State 1-6, CS Northridge 0-3--The ninth-ranked Matadors (37-21-1) managed just seven hits against host Utah State in a nonconference doubleheader.

Tamara Ivie’s fourth-inning single was the only hit for the Matadors against Deanna Earsley (16-7) in the first game. The Aggies (25-13) scored the game’s lone run in the seventh inning on two singles and two errors.

Kathy Blake (20-5) allowed just three hits--one in the first and two in the seventh--but took the loss on an unearned run.

In the second game, the Aggies scored six runs in the third inning on four hits--including two doubles--and three walks.