The Mustangs eight game win streak is over losing back-to-back games last Friday and Saturday against their conference foes Laney College. The losses pushed LMC down to second place in the Bay Valley division as they were leaped over in the standings by Marin College.
Friday’s game, which ended in a 12-1 rout, saw LMC ace pitcher Peter Nyznyk uncharacteristically give up nine hits and five runs over five innings pitched. He had his pitches working, but the breaks and the calls were not going his way as several of the hits he gave up were weakly hit and corner pitches were not called in his favor.
After the game, LMC head coach Anthony D’Albora said, “We have gone a pretty long while doing just about everything right. We have caught a lot of bounces, gotten a lot of calls, had plenty of two-out hits with runners in scoring position and had great pitching from top to bottom. Sometimes you wonder what you are doing to keep deserving those things.” He added, “You don’t want to think about it but you keep waiting for the day when your luck runs out a little bit and I thought that was really it for us today.”
Nyznyk, however, ended on a great note as he struck out the side in the fifth inning before turning the game over to the bullpen afterwards.
D’Albora said, “For Pete, he didn’t have his best stuff early, but he wasn’t alone in that. We didn’t take good enough at-bats, we didn’t make good defensive plays and we just couldn’t get it done.”
Laney continued their momentum into Saturday’s game and won 7-0. Through four innings it was looking like a classic pitchers dual, as the score was still knotted at zero. But in the bottom of the fifth, Laney broke through and scored three runs on RBI’s by Byron Buckle, Samuel Nieve, and Todd Burgos that chased LMC starter Ben Polansky out of the game. Laney starter Matthieu Pomykala pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits and striking out one. Andrew Tamaru came in from the pen and pitched the final three innings, striking out three and only allowing one person to reach base, by way of a walk.
Only eight games are left in the season as the top six teams in the division are divided by only three games. Yuba and Laney are 9-7, Mendocino and Solano are 10-6, Los Medanos is 11-5, and Marin is leading at 12-4 in conference play.
The next home game is Saturday, April 13 against Marin at 1 p.m.
