Rams Suffer Third Loss In A Row

The Rams struggled to find their stride as the Fresno City College Baseball team suffered its third straight loss, 2-0 to Los Medanos College, on Feb. 3.

The Rams fell to fifth place in the Central Valley Conference with a 1-3 record. Although it is early into the season, the Rams have yet to win a game at home.

The game started off in a pitching battle that saw Rams’ starting pitcher Efrain Del Rio against LMC’s Llewelyn Slone. Both pitchers showed off their pitching, and the game went scoreless for the first five innings.

Elfrian Del Rio shut down The Mustangs’ batters in the early going of the match, pitching 75 pitches for six strikeouts in five scoreless innings.

A small mistake doomed the Rams in the top of the sixth inning when the Rams’ defense failed to make a ground out on a punt to start the inning. This set the Mustangs up to go on a series of hits, advancing the runner to third base, where they would strike with an RBI single to give the Mustangs a 1-0 lead. Del Rio was benched shortly after the end of the inning.

“They capitalized on our mistakes, not being able to get an easy out on that punt; they were able to put a runner in score position,” Del Rio said. “It wasn’t the best feeling going into the dugout at the end of the inning, giving up that run and later getting told that my time on the mound was done.”

Despite being down one run, the Rams were not going to go down without a fight in the seventh inning. With two outs against them, the Rams were able to get a series of singles loading the bases with the potential of tying the game and taking the lead. Rams’ Sophomore catcher Kyle Adkins wasn’t able to secure a hit to score a run off a fly ball at end the inning, killing the team’s chance of tying the game.

“We were not able to get the hits that we needed to take the lead in the sixth, and so far, that has been our problem this season. It showed tonight,” Adkins said. “We have to be sharper on the bat and be able to get hits. We need to be more consistent when we do it, and I think we will be OK.”

The Mustangs tightened their grip on the lead in the eighth inning by scoring their second run of the game, making the score 2-0. The second score would destroy any chance of a Rams comeback, as the Mustangs made two three-and-outs to close out the game.

Despite the loss, Rams’ assistant coach Eric Solberg said his team still has the potential to go on a long run for the season’s ahead.

“It’s early in the season, so we know we are going to struggle in some areas,” Solberg said. “Now we know it’s at offense, and that is something we need to work on.”

He said that baseball is a momentum building game, but that he is optimistic.

“When you go on a slump, you struggle, but when you hit well you are hard to stop,” Solberg said. “I believe this is a very talented team that can go a great run for the season ahead.”