The Pirates (18-5, 9-4) cooled off the High Desert Heat (6-7, 3-6) in a 4-2 victory Wednesday afternoon at Cal Poly Pomona.
Michael Koval (2-0) was dominant baffling Heat hitters with 11 strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work. He had a string of 12 consecutive batters retired from the second inning to the sixth.
Jordan Scheftz slammed the door shut and picked up the save in 2.2 innings of relief.
The Pirates struck first with a two-run third inning.
Fernando Escobar had an RBI single scoring Jason Padlo. Escobar scored later in the inning on an error to make it a 2-0 lead.
Inland Valley plated two more in the fourth to grab a 4-0 advantage.
Escobar was in the middle of it once again, this time belting another RBI that scored Padlo. Jonny Reynoso knocked in Escobar.
The Heat scored two in the seventh inning, but it was too little too late as the Pirates cruised to an opening game victory.
| Batting | AB | R | 1B | H | RBI | BB | K |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jonny Reynoso | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Nathan Virgen | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jorge Ortega | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fernando Escobar | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Nolan Henley | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Jason Padlo | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Andrew Alvarez | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Christian Kelley | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dylan Lowenstein | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Garlick | 4 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 32 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Pitching | IP | #P | TB | H | R | ER | BB | K | HR | S% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jordan Scheftz | 2.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Michael Koval | 6.1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 | .000 |
| Totals | 9.0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 0 | — |