The Mariners defense faltered in their second game of the season on Tuesday. Days after defeating Sierra College, the Mariners fell to Cabrillo College 10-5 at San Francisco State University. The Mariners committed six errors on the afternoon which led to six unearned runs. The offense had its opportunities but they were unable to overcome the team's defensive shortcomings.
Dominic Burke started for the Mariners and was effective for the first three innings, limiting the Seahawks to just a single baserunner. Marin put two on with two out in the bottom of the third, but failed to score. Burke got into some trouble in the fourth, as he walked one and hit another batter with two outs. Cabrillo's Jackson Driver lined a two run double to put the visitors on top 2-0.
Marin had a chance to score in the bottom half with two on with nobody out, but a fly out, and a caught stealing ended the threat. Burked got two outs in the sixth before he was relieved by Michael Benz who induced a groundout to end the inning.
Benz ran into some difficulties in the top of the seventh as Cabrillo put runners on the corners with one away. He allowed an RBI single before Jack Hill took over on the hill. He yielded a run scoring double to make the score 4-0 before Mariners' errors on three consecutive plays allowed three more runs to score for Cabrillo.
Down by seven in the seventh, the Mariners did not go quietly. Marin loaded the bases with one out before Adam Hussain's single put the team on the board. Alex Davis was hit by a pitch to cut the deficit to 7-2. James Harwell followed with a double, plating two more, and Jonathan Chu lined an RBI single with two away to pull Marin within two runs at 7-5.
Cabrillo struck back in the top of the eighth as they put a runner on second with two outs. A strikeout coupled with an error allowed the batter to reach before a two run triple and an RBI single gave Cabrillo a 10-5 advantage.
The Mariners failed to score in the bottom half of the eighth, before Will Zurcher retired the side in order in the top of the ninth. Marin put two on to lead off the ninth but their threat was ended by a double play and a ground out.
Adam Hussain had three hits and an RBI for Marin while Jonathan Chu had a pair of hits and an RBI of his own. Dominic Burke pitched five and two thirds innings, while Benz, Hill, Kyle Hinds, Nick Roth and Zurcher completed the final three and a third frames.
Next up for the Mariners is a road game at Diablo Valley College on Thursday, February 1st.