The MSJC baseball team has won four of their last six games and are still in the running for both a playoff spot and a conference championship with two and a half weeks left in the season.
The Eagles swept Barstow in a three-game series with a pair of road wins as well as close home victory. The series started in Barstow where the Eagles won the opener 16-9. In that game Derek Hurtado drove home six runs to lead the offense, while Ty Mattson, Kaden Spencer, and Justin Granado each had two RBIs. In a home game on Thursday MSJC took advantage of a balk by the Vikings in the bottom of the ninth to walk off a 6-5 win. Steven Felipe had two hits and an RBI in the win. The Eagles then rallied for the sweep in Barstow last Saturday, scoring four runs in the top of the ninth and then holding on in the bottom half to win 13-12. Juni Rodriguez had three doubles and five RBIs in the win.
This past week MSJC dropped two out of three to Victor Valley. Tuesday the Eagles bats were quiet as the Rams won in a shut out 6-0. Granado had three hits and Matt Rezkalah had two hits, but MSJC could not push across a run. In game two of the series, Spencer had an RBI single in the top of the ninth and Gavin Warner knocked in two with a double as MSJC tied the game at 5-5 before giving up the winning run in the bottom of the inning. The Eagles salvaged the series on Saturday with an 11-6 home win over the Rams. Luke O'Brien had a team high three RBIs while Spencer had four hits and drove home a pair of runs. Ryan Rangel, Louie Arias, and Rodriguez also drove in two in the win. Warner earned the pitching victory by throwing six innings and allowing just two earned runs.
The Eagles now stand at 14-18 overall on the season they are 11-7 in Inland Empire Athletic Conference competition. MSJC is currently tied with Cerro Coso for third place in the league standings, Chaffey leads the way with a 14-4 conference record and Desert sits in second place at 12-6.
The Eagles will be on the road for three games this week beginning with a trip to Long Beach City on Tuesday for a 1 pm non-conference game. Thursday MSJC will travel to Chaffey at two o'clock and Saturday the Eagles will play at San Bernardino Valley at one.