Banuelos tosses 8 innings in Huskies 5-2 win over LBCC
by Stephen Morales
@grecomeco23
With three series left to go in the regular season, the ELAC Huskies Baseball team came into this week's series with the Long Beach City College Vikings looking to make a statement as they look for a postseason berth. Following a opening game 6-1 loss at home, the Huskies knew they had to turn to their pitching staff to make a stand as they traveled to Long Beach.
Coach Alec Adame handed the ball to Robert Banuelos and he was up the challenge, tossing eight innings of dominant ball as the Huskies defeated the Vikings 5-2 to even the series at a game apiece.
Banuelos was dominant for those eight innings, allowing only two runs on six hits. Banuelos took a shutout into the ninth inning before allowing a couple of base runners and was relieved by Andrew Contreras. The Vikings got a pair of runs before Contreras shut the door down to preserve the win for Banuelos.
Head Coach Alec Adame was equal in praise of both his pitchers.
"Robert Banuelos (pitched 8 superb innings with the wind swirling today! He was able to keep his pitches down in the zone today and induced many ground balls. Robert knew what this game meant for us, and pitched with the intent of keeping our playoff hopes alive! Andrew Contreras RHP was able to stop a big inning for LBCC from happening by rolling up a big double play ball with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th!"
As if knowing that their starting pitcher would be on, the Huskies offense went to work early to score some runs. A ball hit by Daniel Vierra in the 2nd inning turned into a Viking error which allowed Ruben Hernandez and Beno Olmeda to score. In the 5th inning, Richard Ponce scored on a double by Alex Solis. Olmeda also scored on a wild pitch in the 6th inning. The Huskies added their last run in the 7th as Solis scored on a double by Michael Easter.
"Alex Solis (CF) had a big RBI single, Michael Easter (C) had a big RBI double for extra insurance!" added Adame.
Banuelos ran into trouble a couple of times, but each time his Husky defense was up to the task.
Adame spoke well of his team on the field.
""It was a great game defensively for us today! It all started with a plus defensive play by Banuelos in fielding a good drag bunt with 2 outs as LBCC was threatening to score! Our outfielders were amazing today with the wind swirling: AJ Mendez (LF) made a clutch catch at the wall. Alex Solis (CF) made a spectacular diving catch on a liner to CF... And Nicholas Bobadilla (RF) had a great defensive day with a 9-3 put out, and also making a spectacular diving catch in foul territory to help us get outs early to keep Banuelos' pitch count in order! Our guys played with desire today, to give us a chance to win the series on Saturday!"
The win keeps the Huskies alive in the playoff race and the conference race as well. They will look to take a major step and win the series against the Vikings on Saturday at home. There Adame will hand the ball to his ace, Francisco (Paco) Dominguez. Game is set for 12 noon on Saturday.