Wolverines takes series against Cosumnes River
Despite having its 14-game winning streak snapped earlier in the week by Diablo Valley, the Sierra College baseball team jumped right back into the win column against Cosumnes River.
The Wolverines posted a 12-10 win in the series opener March 27, then fell on the road 5-4 before wrapping up the series victory with a 6-3 win March 30 in Rocklin.
Sierra is currently 21-6 overall and holds a one-game lead in the Big 8 Conference with a 10-2 record. Delta, Santa Rosa and Sacramento City all sit at 9-3.
Nathan Berry picked up his sixth victory in Friday's win, pitching seven innings and allowing just three hits and one earned run while striking out six. Logan Wurm had two hits, including his sixth home run (tied for the team lead with Matt Lopez), and drove in two runs. Charles Middleton had two hits and three runs batted in and Lopez (.402 batting average, 31 RBI) and Dylan Smethurst both had two hits.
The Wolverines have been on a power surge all season, blasting 23 home runs as a team (8th in the state) at the halfway point of the season.
"Our success as a team has been due to very unselfish play overall," said Sierra head coach Rob Willson. "Having more than 20 home runs at this point has been huge considering we hit zero in 2015."
Other statistical leaders for Sierra include pitcher Tyler Gums, who is headed to Long Beach State next fall, is fourth in the state with seven wins and has posted a 1.47 (55 innings pitched) earned run average on the season. Isaiah Garcia leads the Wolverines with 33 RBI. Smethurst is currently fifth in California with a .448 average to go along with 26 RBI.
Sierra is home against Delta on Tuesday, April 3 (2:30 pm), at Delta on Thursday, April 5 (2:30 pm) and host Delta Saturday, April 7 (1 pm).
Story by Scott Johnston, photo by Dave Lawicka