The Buccaneers (0-5, 0-1) lost 5-4 to the High Desert Heat (2-1, 1-0) Tuesday afternoon at Cal Poly Pomona.
The Bucs started things off right in the second when Girardo Ramirez belted an RBI single into right field scoring Jack Spohn.
The Heat responded with five unearned runs in the top of the third to grab a 5-1 lead.
The Bucs chipped away at the lead scoring two in the fourth and one in the fifth.
Johnny Juarez ripped an RBI double and Bryce Brooks added another RBI. Rudy Casarez, who crushed a triple to deep left field, Ramirez and Kevin Riley all scored to make it 5-4.
The Bucs fought until the bitter end. They had two good opportunities to complete the comeback with a runner in scoring position in the seventh and ninth innings, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Michael Reina tossed four innings, while allowing no earned runs. Eric Trask was electric striking out 12 Heat hitters in five shutout innings.
The Bucs and Heat go right back to battle at the same time and place on Wednesday.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anthony Seminaris | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rudy Casarez | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Miles Ryan | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Bryce Brooks | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Charles Escobar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Kevin Riley | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Michael Ortega | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Gerardo Ramirez | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Diego Cortes | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Jack Spohn | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Richie Chavez | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Smith | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Johnny Juarez | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Tanner Thibodeau | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Anthony Rabito | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Totals | 34 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Trask | 5.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 0 | .000 |
| Michael Reina | 4.0 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 0 | — |