RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Simpson baseball swept the twin-bill against former Cal Pac rival La Sierra with 7-5 and 10-5 victories.
Two huge errors by the Golden Eagles allowed the Red Hawks to cash in big as shortstop
Eric Mora connected for a grand slam to give Simpson the early 4-0 lead in the first inning.
Simpson scored in the first three innings of the game as
Tyler Haruta added a sacrifice fly in the second and
Nui Sato notched an RBI single.
A two-run blast in the third inning by La Sierra's Ethan Gibbs cut the Red Hawks' lead in half as Mora struck again in the fifth inning with an RBI double to extend the Red Hawks' lead to 7-3.
The Golden Eagles plated a run in the sixth and seventh innings and brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh before
Chandler Jones sealed the game one victory by striking out the final two batters of the game.
JJ Torrente and Mora led the Simpson bats with each posting a three-hit game while Mora drove in five runs.
Game 2:
An RBI single in the second inning by
Mario Catalan broke the scoreless ball game, followed by a safety squeeze by
Jackson Berry.
RBI doubles by
Bo Valladao and
JJ Torrente extended Simpson's lead to four as they held the 5-1 lead through the first five innings.
The Golden Eagles tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning as they plated four runs on five hits. However, the Red Hawks answered with a five-run inning as Valadao and Torrente struck again with RBI doubles.
This proved to be more than enough as the Red Hawks closed out the bottom half of the inning to preserve the 10-5 victory to earn the sweep on the day.
Owen Hayes, Valladao, and Torrente led the Simpson bats with two-hit performances as Valladao and Torrente combined for six RBIs.
Simpson looks to be back in action on Friday as they begin a four-game series with Bethesda.
Be sure to stay up to date and follow us at @simpsonredhawks on Instagram, Facebook, and X.