Merced College baseball bats stay hot in win over Porterville

The Merced College baseball team has shown it can swing the sticks through its first 11 games.

The Blue Devils entered Thursday afternoon averaging 7.5 runs per game and has plated at least eight runs on five different occasions. MC improved those totals with a 9-0 win over Porterville at Blue Devil Field.

The game moved to Merced because the home field for the Pirates (3-9, 0-2 Central Valley Conference) had been unplayable. MC (7-4, 2-0 CVC) took advantage of the familiar surroundings pounding out nine runs on eight hits, including a Jimbo Pernetti three-run home run.

Starter Ryan Sanchez limited Porterville to three hits in six shutout innings.

Softball

American River 17-8, Merced College 3-0 in Sacramento – Sabrina Alvarado and Harula Nukina each notched a couple hits and drove in a run, but they couldn’t help the Lady Devils (2-8) avoid a doubleheader sweep by American River.

Women’s Basketball

Menlo 63, UC Merced 52 in Atherton – A Shelby Howard three-pointer brought the Bobcats (11-11, 4-5 Cal Pac) within two of the 13th-ranked team in NAIA Division II with 4:16 to play, but UC Merced wouldn’t score another point. Allison Wisdom led the way with 12 points and Courtney Danna added 11.

Men’s Basketball

Menlo 81, UC Merced 63 in Atherton – Daniel Pugh turned in a double-double (18 points, 10 rebounds), but the Bobcats couldn’t keep pace with an Oaks team that shot 45 percent from the field.

This story was originally published February 19, 2015 at 9:32 PM with the headline "Merced College baseball bats stay hot in win over Porterville."