The Los Medanos College Mustangs faced off against the Fresno City College Rams, leading to a pitcher’s duel in the late innings when LMC pulled away with a 7-2 victory.

The starting pitchers for each team in the game were Colton Trudeau of the Mustangs and Noah Galvan of the Rams. Both pitchers played very well; however, Trudeau managed to outduel Galva.

In the first inning, LMC started off hot as outfielder Seth Gwynn and catcher Bubba Rocha hit home runs to give the Stangs a 2-0 lead. The team was celebrating in the dugout after each run to keep their confidence up.

But the Rams cut the lead in half after a throwing error on Ryan Pierce causing Isaiah Monge to reach first base and Brady Zavorek to score.

For the next three innings, only one batter reached second base as Trudeau and Galvan started a pitcher’s duel against each other.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Stangs had bases loaded with two outs and threatened to retake the lead. However, it all ended after Pierce flew out to end the inning.

The Rams tied up the game in the bottom of the fifth inning after Kristian Gomez homered off Trudeau. Teammates of Gomez were hyped up waiting for him in their dugout screaming and cheering, attempting to give their team a boost.

The game was quiet until the seventh inning when it all turned south for the Rams. It started off with two straight singles by Khamani Blakney and Will Ramirez to start off the inning. Galvan was then taken out of the game with Aaron McCurley coming in to replace him on the mound. Gwynn popped out first. Pierce came up to bat and reached first through an umpire-ruled error on the second baseman Logan Sumter when the ball bounced over his head when it reached him. This allowed Blakney to score giving the Stangs a 3-2 lead. Rocha came up to bat and scored Gwynn on a single extending their lead. Michael Weber singled loading the bases for Jeremy Hill and he scored in Pierce when the defense got the out at second but couldn’t turn the double play. This inning shot a hole through the Ram’s confidence as they couldn’t score another run with LMC scoring two more in the bottom of the eighth to end the game with a 7-2.

With the Stang’s victory, Fresno City will now battle the Folsom Lake College Falcons to stay alive in the NorCal Super Regionals.

If Fresno City wins, LMC will battle Folsom Lake on May 12. If Folsom Lake wins, a best-out-of-3 series will begin on May 12 with Fresno City being eliminated from the playoffs.

Also, if Fresno City wins and the Stangs beat Folsom tomorrow, LMC will battle Fresno City again on May 12. If LMC wins that, they move on to the Regional Finals as both the Rams and Falcons will be eliminated due to double elimination rules. If LMC lose against the Rams tomorrow, there will be another game between the two teams on May 13.