With the game scoreless in the fourth inning, outfielder Anthony Graham is up to bat.
Graham had a chance to redeem himself from his last at-bat when he hit into a double play with the bases loaded.
With runners at first and second with two outs, Graham has a chance to put EC in the lead.
Klunk!
He hit the ball to the ground for a harmless grounder to end the inning.
This was the story for the Warriors as they left multiple runners on base throughout the game.
The result: a 4-1 loss to the Long Beach City College (LBCC) Vikings, who completed a three-game sweep over EC.
“The pitcher threw hard and threw a lot of dirty pitches but nothing we couldn’t hit,” Graham said. “We need to work on playing more calm because we tried to hit the ball too hard. We just need to be more selective at the plate.”
EC will host Harbor College today at 2:30 p.m.
“You try to stop thinking about the losing streak because whether you win six in a row, like we have, or lose six in a row, like we have, all it comes down to is how you execute in the next game,” coach Nate Fernley said. “If you let yourself get too high, bad things happen, and too low, same thing. We just try to approach every game like it is a brand new game.”
Leaving nine men on base through the first five innings, the Warriors failed to get the clutch hits time and time again.
“We played a good game,” Fernley said. “We played better defense than they did. I think we hit as good or better than them.”
“But early on we left a lot of guys on base. We didn’t get the hits that we needed to cash in some runs.”
With LBCC getting three runs in one inning, it ended up being enough as the Warriors suffered their sixth straight loss.
“We didn’t get any hits in clutch timing. We just got hits and didn’t do anything with the runners in scoring position,” shortstop Atlee Schwab said.
Starting pitcher Chris Vopinek, being wild with his pitches at times, was cruising through three innings but could not get out of the fourth inning, giving up three runs in the process.
“(Vopinek) pitched OK today,” Fernley said. “He had that rough inning, but he has been sharper. His breaking balls hit the dirt, too far away from the plate. We had better outings from him but he battled for us.”
With the team’s struggles, the players were dissappointed with their recent play.
“It’s OK to be disappointed but team morale is good,” Fernley said. “They are all behind each other. There’s no team fights. If the Miami Heat can cry in the locker room, I think it’s OK to at least be a little disappointed.”
