A quartet of players had a pair of hits, while freshman starting pitcher Nolan Patterson (Long Beach Millikan HS) tossed his second straight complete game, as the Cerritos College baseball team posted a 6-3 win over Rio Hondo College on Tuesday. The South Coast Conference victory by the Falcons (27-8, 14-5) kept the Falcons in second place, as they will host the Roadrunners (8-27, 6-13) in the second game of their series at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday at Kincaid Field.

Patterson (8-1) cruised through the first three innings, but allowed a run in the bottom of the fourth inning. After allowing the run, he retired eight of the next 10 batters he faced until Rio Hondo pushed a run across in the seventh inning on three hits. The third run came across the plate in the eighth inning, but Patterson set down Rio Hondo in order in the ninth inning for his third complete game in his last four starts.

Offensively, the Falcons got on the board in the top of the first inning, with sophomore outfielder Evan Saito (Torrance HS) leading off the game by reaching base on an error. He was then sacrificed to second base before freshman outfielder Owen Martin (Narbonne HS) drove in Saito with a base hit. Sophomore designated hitter Diego Orozco (Torrance HS) opened the third inning with a single, moved to second base on an error and advanced to third base on a single by freshman first baseman Wyatt Ormonde (Long Beach Millikan HS). Sophomore Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) brought Orozco home on a fielder's choice.

Holding a slim 2-1 lead after six innings, Cerritos scored twice in the seventh and ninth innings to lock down the win. Saito singled with two outs before Orozco clubbed a two-run home run, his second of the season. Martin drove in his second run of the game in the ninth inning, while a double-steal and throwing error allowed Saito to score.

Orozco, Martin, sophomore catcher Ryan Reyes (Los Alamitos HS) and freshman shortstop Lucas Scott (Long Beach Poly HS) all had a pair of hits for Cerritos.