The men’s baseball team hosted and beat Citrus College 4-0 at Kincaid Field on a sunny Saturday, Feb. 1. The hosting Falcons sent right handed sophomore starting pitcher Dylan Algra to the mound against the Citrus Owls. 

Algra got off to a quick start as he got the first two Owls he faced on a flyball to center and a groundout to second.

He would give up two consecutive singles to the Owls before inducing a flyball to right to end the threat.

The Falcons got off to a good start offensively in the bottom of the first inning as right fielder Johnny Martinez led off the game with a walk to immediately put pressure on Owls starting pitcher Brian Blackburn.

The Falcons proceeded to lay down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Martinez to second thus putting him in scoring position with one out.

Martinez would advance to third in the following at-bat as first baseman Jose Romero grounded out to second base to record the second out.

Catcher Chris Carrillo kept the inning alive drawing a walk to put runners on first and third for sophomore third baseman Hayden Stevens who singled to center into left center field plating Martinez
for a 1-0 lead.

The relentless Falcons offense added on to the lead as freshmen second basemen Victor Guadalupe doubled down the left field line scoring Carrillo and advancing Stevens to third.

Designated hitter Joseph Aguirre would launch a double of his own down the fight field line driving in Stevens and Guadalupe and chasing Blackburn in the process after pitching only two thirds
of an inning and giving up.

The Owls Brought in Dani Schlarmann out of the bullpen to get the third and final out of the inning.

Algra went back out to the hill and looked to settle in and find his zone striking out the side in the top of the second inning.

Algra would continue to cruise along shutting out the visiting Owls for seven innings displaying excellent command collecting eight strikeouts, giving up four hits and no walks.

The Falcons would bring in lefty Joe Fernandez who got through the top of the eighth giving up only 1 hit.

Fernandez got the first two batters out in the bottom of the ninth before walking the potential final out and forcing the Falcons to bring in right hander Elpidio Martin to get the final out and secure the Falcons second win in as many games in this young season.

After the game Algra feels like the first Falcon victory fueled the second. “It was a good team win to get our second win, ” Algra said.

He got off to a fast start early but he really took hold of the game as it went on zoning in and owning the strikezone with his off-speed pitches complimenting his fastball.

Algra continues, “It took me a while to establish my off-speed pitches, but when they came around I always used them pretty well so it worked out”.

Algra stated that as the game went along the he worked the Owls backward starting them off with off-speed pitches to keep them off balance and guessing in the count.

Algra concluded by acknowledging his teammates saying “Defense played well. It was a good team win.”

Freshmen second basemen Victor Guadalupe talked about his RBI double in the bottom of the first “It felt good it was my first college hit so I was pretty pumped.”

Guadalupe said that a good game like the one he had he gives him a positive mentality that he wants to take with him into the next game.

Guadalupe said, “It’s crucial, it gets us rolling we’re in a good mind state right now so we’re going to do some good things .”

Head Baseball Coach Ken Gaylord gives feedback on his team’s performance “Well you know Dylan threw really well and we jumped on them for four but we got to keep that pressure on them.”

Coach Gaylord referenced how in the first game of last season the Falcons were up by three and the Owls rallied for a win.

While on the surface this seasons win over Citrus looks to be an improvement Coach Gaylord expressed some concerns about his team, “You know I’m concerned. I’m thinking we can hit better than what we’ve shown. They’re working at it, but I’d like to see the results.”