COMMUNITY COLLEGE BASEBALL ROUNDUP : Gonzales Hits Three Homers to Lead Cypress Into Tie for First

Andy Gonzales hit three home runs and got the victory in relief as Cypress moved into a first-place tie with a 6-4 victory over host Saddleback Thursday in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game.

Gonzales hit a two-run home run in the first inning and added home runs in the third and ninth. He also pitched the final 4 2/3 innings for the victory. He allowed one hit and had eight strikeouts and four walks.

Cypress (27-10) is tied for first with Riverside at 13-5.

Lorne Rosas had three hits, scored a run and drove in another for Saddleback (20-11-1, 10-8).

In other conference games:

Golden West 5, Riverside 4--Mitch Charles’ ninth-inning squeeze broke a 4-4 tie for host Golden West (14-17, 7-11). Riverside (26-8, 13-5) had scored twice in the seventh to take a 4-2 lead but Golden West got single runs in the seventh, eighth and ninth.

Rick Williams (2-3) allowed two hits and no runs in 2 2/3 innings of relief for the victory.

Rancho Santiago 9, Fullerton 2--Toby Sanchez hit his 14th home run, tops in the conference, for visiting Rancho Santiago (28-9, 11-7), which won its third consecutive game. Daryle Ward also hit a home run for Rancho Santiago. Brandon Hoalton (9-2) pitched five innings for the victory and Steve Rewald pitched the final four innings for his fifth save.

In a nonconference game:

Orange Coast 15, Compton 3--Ryan Sunderman had four hits, scored two runs and drove in three runs for visiting Orange Coast (8-24).