The Long Beach City College baseball team cruised to an 8-3 non-conference win over visiting Mt. San Jacinto College on Thursday to close out its 2009 regular season schedule.
 
Freshman Matt Johnson (4-1) pitched seven solid innings, allowing three runs (two earned) and six hits to earn the win. He struck out three and walked one. Sophomores Scott Watson (0 hits, 3 Ks) and Teddy Mitrosilis (1 hit, 1 K) closed out the game with scoreless innings.
 
Mt. San Jacinto got on the board first, posting a run in the top of the fourth. The Vikings responded with four runs in the bottom of the inning, which proved to be all the offense they would need.
 
LBCC added two more runs in the fifth, and had single runs in the sixth and seventh innings for the easy win.
 
Third baseman Andy Hernandez led LBCC at the plate, going 3 for 4 with 3 RBI, 2 runs, and a double. Hernandez brought in a run with a groundout in the fourth and nailed a two-run single in the fifth.
 
Second baseman Trevor Costin (2 for 5, 2B, 1 RBI, 1 run) and catcher Jonathan Keener (2 for 4, 1 RBI, 1 run) both had two hits for Long Beach and left fielder Matt Homstad was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI.
 
Drew Madrigal took the loss for Mt. San Jacinto (31-10 overall). He allowed four runs (two earned) and four hits in four innings. John Eshleman went 2 for 4 to lead the Eagles’ offense.
 
The South Coast Conference champion Vikings will take a 27-16 overall record (17-7 SCC) into the playoffs after today’s win over the Foothill Conference champ Eagles.
 
Playoff pairings for the Southern California regional playoffs will be announced on Sunday. As the SCC champion, the Vikings are assured a top-eight seed in the tourney and will host a first-round best-of-three series. Game 1 is set for next Friday (May 8) at 3 p.m. followed by Game 2 and 3 if necessary on Saturday (May 9), beginning at 11 a.m. at Joe Hicks Memorial Field.

Report From LBCC