Lombardi’s Home Run Sparks Saddleback Over Golden West

Dom Lombardi drove in the winning run with a home run to lead off the ninth as Saddleback defeated Golden West, 3-2, in an Orange Empire Conference baseball game Saturday at Saddleback.

Saddleback was down, 2-0, entering the eighth inning when Danny Rivas led off with a walk, Justin Greco doubled Rivas to third and Ryan Ruiz and Paul Day each had a sacrifice fly to bring home the tying runs.

Saddleback improves to 14-7-1 and 5-5 in conference. Golden West drops to 10-12, 4-8.

In other Orange Empire Conference baseball games:

Rancho Santiago 6, Cypress 4--Derek Baker was two for two with a home run and two RBIs for Rancho Santiago (18-6, 6-4).

Riverside 10, Fullerton 7--Bobby Kielty hit a grand slam, his fourth home run of the year, to give Riverside (16-9-1, 5-7) a 9-0 lead in the fifth. Fullerton (16-7, 7-5) battled back, scoring five runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Hornets fell short, leaving the bases loaded three times.

Fullerton’s Pancho Ruiz extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a single in the eighth.

In nonconference baseball:

Orange Coast 18, College of the Desert 2--All nine Orange Coast starters had a multiple-hit game, led by Chris Ponchak with three doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs. Geoff Wilson had four RBIs on two hits and Jario Guido, in his first start, went four for five, scoring twice and driving in a run.

In the bottom of the fifth, Orange Coast (17-6) batted around, sending 12 to the plate, scoring seven runs on eight hits and two errors.

In nonconference tennis:

Irvine Valley 8, U.S. International 1--Irvine Valley’s John Manley swept his singles match, 6-0, 6-0. Manley and Makoto Araki won in doubles, 6-1, 6-0, for Irvine Valley (11-3).