Pineda and Nunez Lead Warriors to Victory over Rio Hondo

TORRANCE, Calif. - The El Camino College Warriors baseball team won their sixth game in a row after defeating Rio Hondo 11-0 to get the series win on Thursday's match at Warrior Field.

Adrian Pineda tossed seven scoreless innings and set a new career high with 10 strikeouts and allowed just five hits and three walks. Matthew Krause and Tyler Tellenbach completed the shutout after tossing a scoreless frame each.

Slater Nunez led the Warriors offensively after going 3-for-4 from the dish with two home runs and three RBIs and two runs. Johnny Munoz, Dane Rhodes, and Nolan Fox also had two hits each. 

It was a pitcher's duel early in the game as both starters were throwing up zeros.  In the second inning, the Roadrunners put Pineda through an early test after loading the bases on three one out hits. However, he got out of jam on a 4-6-3 double play. In the fourth inning, the Roadrunnners once again had runners on 3rd and 2nd with one out after a walk and a ground rule double but Pineda was able to fan the next two batters to escape the jam.

Slater Nunez broke the scoreless tie open to start the fourth inning with a solo blast right over the right center wall.

The Warriors added three runs in the fifth inning. Dane Rhodes led the inning off with a base hit and was moved over on a sac bunt from Kai Nagashima. Nolan Fox singled down the LF line to bring in RHodes and make it 2-0. Nunez hit his second home run of the day this time over the left center wall to make it a 4-0 game.

The Roadrunners had two runners on in the top of the sixth and Mario Morton hit a base hit to left field. However, Nathan Rivera gunned out the lead runner at the plate for the third out to put up another scoreless inning for Pineda.

The Warriors added two runs in the bottom of the sixth. They loaded the bases with one out and Kai Nagashima hit a double over the left fielder to the fence to bring in two runs and make it 6-0.

In the bottom of the seven the Warriors had five straight hits to start the inning and eventually scored five runs on six hits in the inning to take a commanding 11-0 lead.

The Warriors will go for the series sweep and fifth straight series win when they head to Rio Hondo on Saturday. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m.