Mariners' Baseball endured its second's straight loss to the Eagles of Mendocino College on Sunday. The Mariners dug themselves and early hole which they could not climb out of. Mendocino led 4-1 after three complete and held off a late Marin rally for a 6-4 final score. Jake Munoz and Adam Hussain each had three hits on the day but it was not enough for the Mariners.
Marin went on top in the second as Randy Fernandez drove in Hussain with a two out single. The Mariners had a chance to add on with runners on the corners, but could not push across any additional runs.
Dominic Burke started for Marin and was effective for the first two innings before running into some trouble in the bottom half of the third. Mendocino led off with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on another single. With two away Mendocino put runners on the corners before a single gave them a 2-1 lead. After a walk loaded the bases, another single scored a pair to increase their advantage to 4-1.
Marin was unable to respond, and both teams failed to score again until the seventh frame. Marin started their comeback with a one out single by Jake Munoz. He stole second and advanced to third on an error. After a walk to Alex Davis MacLean Meyn grounded out to plate Munoz and cut the lead to 4-2.
Mendocino responded in the bottom half against Marin pitcher Michael Benz. With two outs a pair of singles were followed with a bases clearing double to extend Mendocino's lead to 6-2. Both teams failed to score in the eighth but Marin made noise in the final frame.
The visitors would not go quietly as Christian Merriwether singled. With one out he moved to second on a wild pitch and stole third before Alex Davis walked to put runners on the corners. Meyn singled to plate Merriwether and cut the deficit to 6-3. Hussain followed with a single of his own to bring Marin another run closer. James Harwell then walked to load the bases and put the tying run in scoring position. Davis Barkocy stepped up to the plate and hit a hard smash towards third, the Mendocino fielder handled it well and went around the horn for a double play to end the game.
It was a tough way to end for the Mariners who saw their winning streak snapped just days earlier. Burke took the loss despite having just the one bad inning. Munoz had three hits a stolen base and a run while Adam Hussain had three hits, an RBI, a run and two stolen bases on the day.
Despite the two consecutive losses the Mariners sit atop the Bay Valley Conference with an 11-2 record.
The Mariners begin a three game series with Laney College on Tuesday, April 10th.