Tyler Molder (SR/Reno, NV) pitched a complete game to pick up the win and advance York College into the winner's bracket of the MCAC Conference Tournament. Molder scattered eight hits throughout and did not allow a run until the bottom of the sixth inning. He struck out five and allowed only one walk.
The York offense didn't take much time at all to get clicking as they compiled three runs in the second inning before adding their final run in the fourth to go up 4-0. In the second inning Rudy Perez (JR/Stockton, CA) got on base thanks to a bobble by the second baseman before advancing to second on an errant throw. Trevor Ramos (SR/Fremont, CA) then delivered a sacrifice bunt to advance Perez to third. With only one out Joe Garcia (SR/Woodland, CA) ripped a grounder down the third base line that scored Perez and got the Panthers moving. Anthony Enriquez (JR/Sacramento, CA) picked up a single after Jordan Pella (JR/Adams, NE) struck out and then Matt Owen (SR/Livermore, CA) hit a RBI single followed by Sean Goodall (JR/San Francisco, CA) also delivering an RBI singled.
In the fourth inning Jordan Pella led off with a singled and Owen reached on his second walk of the afternoon. Another hit by Goodall scored Pella and gave the Panthers their 4-0 lead.
After the Bruins scored two runs in the sixth inning the game was all but finished entering the ninth. Bellevue retired the York batters in order and the Panthers were just three outs from a victory. However, a leadoff singled put the tying run at the plate for the Bruins. A hard hit ball went right to Enriquez at short that looked like a double play ball that would end the ball game. Enriquez, unable to field the ball cleanly, misses the toss to Caleb Connolly (SR/Winters, CA) at second base and runners are now at first and second with one out. Tyler Molder stayed composed after the error extended his victory and forced the next Bellevue batter to hit a ground ball right at Enriquez again. This time he gloved it perfectly, stepped on second, and threw over to Joe Garcia covering first for the third and final out of the inning.
Sean Goodall and Jordan Pella led the Panthers with three hits apiece and Matt Owen drew three walks for York. Molder struck out five in picking up the win.
Coach Brian Walth said "I was really excited to see the guys ready to play today. We stayed loose and knew we were capable of hitting against Kyle Kinman, MCAC Pitcher of the Year. We usually take awhile for our bats to wake up but we took care of the offense right away and gave Tyler a comfortable lead. Tyler really had his stuff going today. He kept the pitches low so Bellevue wasn't able to lift anything out and forced a lot of ground balls. We got a little nervous forcing ourselves to get four outs in the ninth because of the error. You never want to extend the game against a team like Bellevue. They can make you pay for your mistakes but with Tyler being in control, like he was today, he forced another ground out and we are moving on."
The Panthers move on in the winner's bracket to face Oklahoma Wesleyan at 3:30pm Friday afternoon in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The Panthers improved to 32-19 on the year.
