SANTA ROSA — Oren Ruffcorn pitched four innings of shutout relief on Saturday as the Clear Lake Cardinals broke a 3-3 in the top of the ninth inning to beat Santa Rosa 4-3 in the second game of a non-league varsity baseball doubleheader at Santa Rosa.
Santa Rosa won the first game 3-0.
“Both of these games were well played by both teams with no errors,” Clear Lake assistant coach Gary Milhaupt said. “For us to come down here and get a win from a Division I school is huge.”
Both head coaches – Clear Lake”s Zane Jensen and Santa Rosa”s Paige Dumont – are former Clear Lake High prep standouts.
Stone Phillips” ground-rule double in the top of the ninth of the nightcap snapped a 3-3 tie. Chad Elliston led off the inning with a single, moved to second base on Steven Edwards” sacrifice bunt and scored on the Phillips double.
Ruffcorn, 1-1, retired the Panthers in order in the bottom of the ninth to nail down Clear Lake”s first win of the season. Overall he allowed just two hits over the final four innings with three strikeouts and one walk.
Clear Lake (1-2) scored three times in the top of the second to go up 3-0. Santa Rosa (2-2) got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning against starting pitcher Elliston. The Panthers tied the game with a two-run fifth.
Elliston went 3-for-5 with two RBI to spark Clear Lake”s nine-hit attack. Andrew Jackson went 2-for-4 with a RBI.
In the first game, Santa Rosa ace Gabe Cramer worked five innings for the victory, allowing just one hit while striking out 11 and walking three. Joey Blair pitched well in defeat for Clear Lake, tossing a complete-game two-hitter with 11 strikeouts and three walks.
Santa Rosa provided Cramer with all the run support he would need with a run in the first and two more in the third.
“Joey Blair pitched a great game and kept pace with Stanford-bound Gabe Cramer,” Milhaupt said. “Cramer kept our hitters quiet.”
Elliston and Matt Gatton each went 1-for-3 for Clear Lake.
The Cardinals play their first home game today at 3:30 p.m. against Pierce.
