Baseball: Beckley's Two-Run Single Caps Rustlers Comeback Victory

Huntington Beach, Calif. - Golden West College baseball came alive in the eighth inning to take the lead and beat Santa Ana, 6-4, on Monday at Hoover Field. 

JD Rodriguez made his ninth start for the Rustlers, pitching through five innings before getting pulled in the sixth. Rodriguez allowed four hits, earned four runs on a two-run double and homerun, walked two batters and struck out three. Rodriguez is fourth in the Orange Empire Conference with 42 strikeouts. 

Jack Salmon started the scoring off in the fourth inning with a base hit to right field that drove in Dylan Kordic who reached on a double. 

Down 4-1, the duo worked together to score the second run for the Rustlers in the bottom of the sixth. Salmon worked the count to earn the base on balls and then advanced to second on poor fielding by Santa Ana. Kordic showed his base running agility by stealing third base before scoring on an error by the catcher. 

Salmon was later brought home off a sacrifice fly by Matt Gaunt to close Santa Ana's lead to one run. 

Jack Smith relieved Rodriguez in the fifth, recording a strike out and one hit before Lucas Hines entered to pitch two shutout innings. Hines punched out four of the six batters he faced and earned his first win of the season. 

Dylan Kordic opened up the bottom of the eighth with a walk. Kordic was 2-for-3 at the plate and accounted for three of the Golden West runs. 

Dylan Lina followed with a base hit to center field to advance Kordic into scoring position. Preston Allen knocked a run in with a base hit to right center to tie the game 4-4. 

Allen served as the designated hitter in the sixth spot, going 3-for-4 at the plate and stealing three bases against the Dons. 

Nathan Beckley hit the go-ahead two-run single to left field, scoring Allen and Lina. 

The save rested in the hands of Andrew Stanley, who entered from the pen in the ninth. Stanley opened the inning giving up a base hit, but had the help from his infield to record the next two outs on ground balls. A fly ball to Salmon in right field ended the game, securing the win for the Rustlers.

Stanley leads the Orange Empire Conference with a 1.03 ERA and seven saves. 

The Rustlers return to action on Thursday at Santa Ana for a 2 p.m. meeting.

Written By: Marissa Lavezzari