FRC Baseball Wins Ninth Straight

SHASTA--For the second time in the last 4 games Abiel Gonzalez came off the bench and drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth and Jake Christianson closed off host Shasta in the bottom half of the inning to secure a 5-4 Feather River victory over the Knights on Saturday afternoon at Shasta College.

It was win number nine in a row for the Golden Eagles, who improved to 14-5 on the season and to 5-0 in the Golden Valley Conference. The Knights dropped to 1-4 in the GVC and to 6-12 on the year.

Feather River won the contest despite not having an extra base hit. Nine singles, albeit timely ones, combined with backend pitching work from Dakota Todd and Christianson sealed the road victory.

FRC scored single runs in innings one, two, four and five to counter a three spot put up by the Knights in the second inning. That 4-3 lead held up until the sixth, when Shasta added another run to notch things up at 4-4.

Neither team scored in the seventh or eighth. In the top of the ninth, Cooper Kitrel led off the FRC half with a single and Ryan Blanchard followed with another base knock to move Kitrel to third. Gonzalez then launched a deep fly ball to left field that sent Kitrel scampering home with what would prove to be the winning run.

In the bottom of the ninth, Christianson returned to the mound where had gained the last two outs in the eighth inning. He gave up a lead off single, but followed that up with an out on a sacrifice bunt, a strikeout and a fly out to end the game.

Cooper Thacker and Eric Romero had two hits each and an RBI to lead the Golden Eagles offense. Todd pitched a sterling two innings in relief, allowing just one hit and no runs. Christianson made his ninth relief appearance of the season, gaining his first victory of the year. He also has three saves and has given up just four hits in 14.1 innings of work. He has also fanned 23 batters. 

Up next for the Golden Eagles is a three-game series next weekend at the College of the Redwoods in Eureka. Friday's first game begins at noon, as does Saturday's doubleheader.