Baseball Suffers First Conference Loss

A tight pitcher's duel between FLC's Will Felton and Marin's Chris Rudkin became a battle of bullpens as the Mariners outlasted the Falcons, 6-3.  Both starting pitchers were dominant and pitched deep into the game; Felton threw six innings while allowing just one run, while Rudkin had a no-hitter through five innings and did not allow a Falcon run until the eighth.  Nursing a 1-0 lead, the Mariners broke through against FLC's bullpen, scoring two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to take a 6-0 lead.  But the Falcons battled back in the bottom of the eighth scoring three of their own.  Batting with the bases loaded and one out, right fielder Tyler Kaim hit a deep fly to left that came within a few feet of being the first grand slam in FLC baseball history.  Instead, the drive bounced off the fence to score Grant Heisinger and Michael Majeski to cut the lead to 6-3.  In the ninth, the Falcons had the potential winning run at the plate with two outs as they loaded the bases with a walk and two singles.  But the threat - and the game - ended when Noah Revis-French grounded out on a hard shot to third.

The loss was the first in conference play for the Falcons and drops them to 3-1, one game behind undefeated Mendocino (4-0) in the BVC standings.  The Falcons will take on Solano College on Thursday in Fairfield before returning home for a Saturday afternoon (1:00 pm) rematch with Solano.