Mariners Baseball suffered a setback of sorts on Monday in Santa Rosa. After back to back victories, Marin's streak was snapped by Santa Rosa Junior College 18-7. The game was a slugfest throughout, and the Mariners kept it close, but lost touch in the final innings. Landen Moran had a pair of hits and Randy Fernandez hit a homer but it was not enough to deliver a road victory.
The Mariners opened the scoring in the top of the first with an error and single before a double play put Marin in the lead 1-0. It was short-lived as the home team responded with three in the bottom half. The Bear Cubs put two on with two outs before a double and a single plated gave them a 3-1 lead.
The Mariners failed to score in the top of the second but Santa Rosa continued to pile it on. They loaded the bases with two outs before a pair of misplayed flyballs opened the door for a five-run inning that ballooned their advantage to 8-1.
College of Marin did not go quietly as they clawed two back in the third on a ground out by Anthony Pomilia and a bases loaded walk by Randy Fernandez to trail 8-3. Santa Rosa answered with three more in the bottom of the fourth, but Marin continued to battle despite the 11-3 score.
The visitors scored a pair in the fifth on a groundout and a walk and added two more in the sixth on Randy Fernandez's second homer of the year to bring the Mariners within four a 11-7.
Mariners pitcher Ryan Moyer shut down Santa Rosa in the fifth and sixth innings but yielded runs in the seventh. The Bear Cubs loaded the bases with one away before a single and a double plated four more for Santa Rosa. Eric Woodrow took the mound and allowed two more run scoring hits before working his way out of the jam.
Marin looked to rally, but a 17-7 deficit was too much to overcome. Santa Rosa scored again in the eighth for good measure to make the final score 18-7.
Fernandez had a big game for Marin with a home run and four RBI on the day. Oscar Urbina recorded a pair of hits while Landen Moran had two hits and two runs scored.
For Santa Rosa, Hayden Klemenok was unstoppable with three doubles, a triple, four runs scored and six RBI. His teammate Colin Prince had three hits, scored three times and drove in five while Bernard Minarcin launched a home run in his final at bat.
It was a forgettable game for Marin's pitching and defense as they yielded 17 earned runs and committed two errors while walking eight and striking out just two.
Marin will look to get back on the winning side on Tuesday, February 19th at College of San Mateo.