The Pirates (13-3-1, 5-2) defeated the Palm Springs Power (17-2, 3-2) in a tightly contested 3-2 victory at Cal Poly Pomona Monday afternoon.
Andrew Alvarez (4-0) shut down the Power for the second consecutive time and remains the only pitcher to notch a victory against Palm Springs. Alvarez tossed 8.1 innings, striking out four and only allowing two runs in the ninth inning.
The Pirates took the lead in the fifth on an RBI double down the left field line by Jacob Bernardy scoring Nathan Virgen.
Inland Valley doubled its lead in the seventh as Greg Espinosa scored on a squeeze-bunt RBI by Jonny Reynoso in a do-or-die situation with two strikes on him.
Espinosa belted in Christian Kelley in the eighth to make it 3-0.
In the ninth, Alvarez retired the first hitter, but the next three all got hits. That’s when AJ David came in for the save and struck out both hitters he faced.
| Batting | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greg Espinosa | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Jonny Reynoso | 4 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Kyle Jackson | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nathan Virgen | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Fernando Escobar | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Nolan Henley | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Jacob Bernardy | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Andrew Alvarez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Christian Kelley | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | 31 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 5 |
| Pitching | IP | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A.J. David | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Andrew Alvarez | 8.1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — |