Hancock Baseball Plays Home Opener Wednesday

Fresh off a 2-1 performance to open the season in Bakersfield, the Allan Hancock College baseball team opens the home portion of its 2014 schedule against West Hills-Coalinga on Wednesday, Feb.5, at 2 p.m. at John Osborne Field. The home opener starts a six-game home stand for head coach Chris Stevens and his squad.

West Hills is 2-0 after sweeping Cerro Coso 19-15 and 17-6 last weekend. The Falcons were led by sophomore second baseman Karson Canaday, who hit .600 with 5 RBI. Cameron Mormon hit .571 and also drive in five runs.

The Bulldogs, who were ranked 15^th in the Southern California Regional preseason coaches poll, open a weekend series on Friday against Imperial Valley. First pitch on Friday is set for 2 p.m., with the series finale on Saturday slated for 1 p.m. Imperial Valley is off to a 0-4 start and has been outscored 43-14 to open the season.

The Bulldogs opened the season with 10-1 victory over the College of the Sequoias behind six innings of one-run ball from sophomore left-hander Nathan Thompson, a Santa Ynez High School graduate. The Bulldogs routed Bakersfield 10-2 behind seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts from Lompoc High School graduate Ryan Bower. The Bulldogs fell 6-4 to Porterville to close out their trip to Bakersfield.

Three games into the season, sophomore catcher and Santa Ynez High graduate Ryan Welker, as well as transfer Cayman Hoggard lead the Bulldogs with a .556 batting average. They are both 5 for 9. Sophomore and 2013 All-Conference pick Felipe Gonzalez is hitting .455 with five walks for a .625 on-base percentage.

The Bulldogs are hitting .343 as a team with a .450 on-base percentage. Hancock pitchers have posted a 2.77 earned run average with 24 strikeouts in 26 innings.

The home stand continues next week with the Bulldogs hosting Bakersfield on Tuesday, Feb.11 at 2p.m., Canada on Friday at 2p.m., and Porterville at 1p.m. on Saturday.