MC baseball can’t avoid Fresno City Sweep

Maybe it’s the perfect time for a bye week.

The Merced College baseball team certainly looked in need of a regroup after being stomped on its home field for the second time in five days by Fresno City College.

Saturday’s 13-4 victory capped a three-game sweep by the NorCal No. 2 Rams and put them five games ahead of the NorCal No. 4 Blue Devils in the Central Valley Conference standings with nine conference games to play. The loss all but assures Merced will have to battle for second place.

“They just out-executed us in every part of the game,” Merced coach Chris Pedretti said. “They started getting some hits at the end, but we still gave them too many freebies to set up their early runs.

“Fresno deserves credit. They took advantage of their opportunities, and we didn’t. Hopefully, we can use the week off to get back to doing the little things right. We just need to get a little more consistent with our play, and we’ll be fine.”

It didn’t help that the series coincided with injuries to two of Merced’s top hitters and run producers in third baseman Jimbo Pernetti (back) and designated hitter Curtis Kellogg (hand).

The pair’s presence was missed Saturday, as the Blue Devils (14-10, 9-6 CVC) repeatedly failed to cut into Fresno City’s early lead.

Things started ideally enough with Joseph Salmeri singling in Ryan Cumberland to cash in a two-out double and give Merced a 1-0 lead after one inning.

Fresno (19-3, 14-1) answered with three runs in the third on a wild pitch, sacrifice fly and Aaron Simms’ RBI double.

The Blue Devils had opportunities to trim the lead but left runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth. Merced was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position in the second through eighth innings and stranded eight runners total.

“I don’t really know what the problem is,” second baseman David Vidauri said. “We want to win. Guys are going out and playing hard, but we’re just not getting it done right now.”

The Rams made Merced pay for the missed opportunities, gaining some wiggle room with a three-run sixth.

Fresno City scored again in the seventh on a solo home run by Christian Funk, and the Rams pulled away with a five-run rally in the eighth that started with back-to-back two-out walks. Fresno City would end up hitting through the order, with seven consecutive batters reaching base for a 12-1 lead. Funk tripled in two runs and totaled four RBIs.

Vidauri doubled in two runs in the ninth and then scored on a wild pitch, but that would be it for Merced.

The Blue Devils have this week off and then head south during spring break for games with College of the Canyons, Cerritos and East Los Angeles from March 31-April 2.

This story was originally published March 23, 2015 at 1:57 PM with the headline "MC baseball can’t avoid Fresno City Sweep."