STATE COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT : OCC Falls Into Its Usual Predicament : Baseball: Pirates in a must-win situation after losing first game of a series again, this time, 11-2, to Sacramento.

It isn’t a speech Orange Coast Coach John Altobelli likes to give, but it’s one he must know by heart now.

Sacramento beat the Pirates, 11-2, in the quarterfinal round of the State baseball tournament Saturday at Union Stadium on the campus of Sacramento City.

It marks the third consecutive time in three weekends of post-season play that OCC has lost the first game of a series.

“Man, I’m tired of that talk,” Altobelli said. “But we’re used to losing the first game. We’ve just got to scramble and get after it (today).”

OCC had to sweep three doubleheaders, including two in two days last weekend, to extend its season to this point.

Now, the Pirates must beat Laney College of Oakland at 10 a.m. today at American River College to stay alive. Laney lost to Rancho Santiago, 6-3, Saturday.

Phil Jensen (8-1) will start today for OCC. The Pirates are without starting pitcher Kyle Wilson (6-7), who was hit by a line drive last weekend, breaking a finger on his pitching hand.

Sacramento Coach Jerry Weinstein was concerned that the right-field line, which is only 305 feet from the plate, would be an easy target for OCC’s five starters who bat left-handed.

But Panther starter Travis Welch (6-1) did much to ease Weinstein’s fears.

Welch pitched a three-hitter, retiring 14 of the final 15. He had three strikeouts and walked two.

Welch, a right-hander, limited OCC’s five left-handed batters to a combined one for 16, with one run scored and no runs batted in.

“Today, we just didn’t show up with the sticks,” Altobelli said. “Our left-handed hitters are better going the other way, but they seemed to be trying to hook the ball down the line.”

OCC (30-21) scored in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Jason Parsons. His hit drove in Rich Ernst, who opened the game with a single and later stole second.

OCC tied the score, 2-2, when Justin Halper singled, was sacrificed to second by Paul McDaniels and scored on a throwing error in the fifth. Halper’s hit was the last one in the game for OCC.

“We were concerned about their left-handed hitters with our short porch,” Weinstein said. “They are a good-hitting team. We just happened to catch them on an off day.”

Sacramento (31-4) buried the Pirates with five runs in the fifth and three more in the sixth.

Trace Coquillette started the inning with a walk and then stole second. Luke Owens-Bragg and Matt Whitley had consecutive infield singles to score a run and the Panthers led, 3-2.

Deron Spink and Nate Vopata had RBI singles, Paul Blandford had a sacrifice fly and Pete Pryor had an RBI groundout also in the inning.

Darren Dabalack (5-7) allowed six hits and seven runs, all earned, in 4 2/3 innings to take the loss. He had two strikeouts, two walks and hit two. Both walks and one of two hit batters scored.

Ralph Lopez replaced Dabalack and got the final out of the fifth but gave up three runs in the sixth.

Whitley had a one-out double and scored on single by Spink. Matt Erwin then hit a two-run home run.

Whitley finished with four hits, scored three runs and drove in one with his first home run of the season.

“Before the game I just felt good,” Whitley said. “I could tell from the way I was hitting the ball in batting practice that I was going to have a good day.”