The final week of the regular season has not gone as planned for the Mariners. College of Marin dropped their third straight game of the week on Thursday as they lost 5-0 at the hands of the Solano College Falcons. The visitors from Fairfield scored early and often, and the Marin was unable to respond. Ryan Moyer started for Marin and took the loss while their only offense came courtesy of Landen Moran and his three hits.
Solano opened the game on the offensive as they loaded the bases with only one out. A hit by pitch scored one and the following sacrifice fly gave the visitors a two-run lead before the Mariners ever came to bat.
Marin had a chance to respond in the first as Moran singled with two outs and moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. The chance was denied as Conor Bardue struck out looking to Solano starter Danny Zaldivar. Randy Fernandez reached on an error to start the second for Marin but he was caught stealing and the Mariners went down in order after that.
Solano added on in the third with a one out single and double. With two in scoring position a single plated the Falcons' third run. The next batter hit a hard smash to third, but the throw to the plate was too late, letting another run come home. Jack Loder took over for Moyer with one out in the third and induced a double play on the first pitch to end the inning.
The Mariners put two on with one out in the fourth but could not get the big run scoring hit. They went down in order in the fifth and had Moran erased by a double play in the sixth. They had single runners in the seventh and eighth but could not plate them.
Loder did an excellent job on the hill for Marin as his only blemish was a solo home run by Alex Peppard in the top of the fifth. Loder kept the Mariners within striking distance until the ninth. He danced out of trouble thanks to catcher Andrew Trujillo who made an acrobatic tag on a play at the plate to keep Solano from scoring again.
Loder was relieved by Rodwell Cutkelvin with two down in the ninth. The freshman reliever induced a pop out to keep the score 5-0.
The Mariners could not mount a big rally in the ninth as they went down in order. Zaldivar pitched a complete game shutout for Solano with six strikeouts in the game. Peppard, had a double, home run and two runs scored for the Falcons.
Moyer took the loss for Marin while Loder pitched 6.1 innings in relief and gave up just one run and eight hits. Moran had three of Marin's five singles on the day.
The loss dropped Marin to 13-7 in the Bay Valley Conference two games behind the Los Medanos College Mustangs. The Mariners have one more game this week, at Solano on Friday, April 19th with first pitch at high noon.
