El Capitan ace continues dominance on the mound this season with shutout against Merced
El Capitan High left-hander Andrew Bakken has quickly established himself as one of the top pitchers in Merced County this season.
The Gauchos ace put together another dominant outing against Merced on Wednesday, throwing a complete game, three-hit shutout to lead El Capitan to a 2-0 win over the Bears at El Capitan High School.
“He’s been the anchor of our pitching staff,” said Gauchos coach Aaron Ruiz, whose team improved to 10-3 overall and 4-1 in the Central California Conference. “When he’s pitching we know we’re going to be in the game. He works fast, he’s going to be around the zone, he’s not going to throw too many walks and he’s going to give us a chance to win.”
Bakken had to wiggle out of one second-inning, bases-loaded jam against Merced. He did that by raring back and recording back-to-back strikeouts.
Bakken then took over, retiring 17 of the final 19 hitters, including a stretch of 11 in a row.
“When he really gets going he finds a groove,” Ruiz said.
Bakken said all three of his pitches were working. He was able to locate his fastball and use his changeup and curveball to keep the Bears hitters off balance.
He finished with 12 strikeouts.
“I just trust my stuff,” Bakken said. “I try to stay within myself. I know if I can throw strikes I can get outs.”
That approach as worked this season for Bakken as he improved to 3-1 with a 1.50 ERA. He’s been even more dominant in his three CCC starts, going 3-0 with a 0.33 ERA. He’s given up only one earned run in 21 innings pitched, striking out 28 hitters.
The Gauchos offense did just enough, scratching across single runs in the third and fourth innings against Merced start EJ Knott.
The Bears sophomore did his part to keep his team in the game, giving up just two runs on four hits in five innings.
Bakken scored the Gauchos first run on a ground out and Juan Munoz reached on an error and scored on an RBI single by Braden Giardina in the fourth inning.
“We have to grind away on offense,” Ruiz said. “We don’t have the big hitters that can just tie the game or give us a lead with one hit. We have to work at the plate, identify pitches, take good swings and work for everything we get.”
The two teams will finish off their two-game series on Friday night at Merced at 7 under the lights.
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 6:55 PM.
