The Cerritos College baseball team broke open a tight contest with a five-run seventh inning to defeat Pasadena City College, 8-2.

Holding a narrow one-run lead entering the bottom of the seventh, the Falcons erupted offensively to put the game out of reach while receiving another strong outing on the mound from freshman Owen Waytas.

Waytas improved to 2-0 on the season after tossing seven stellar innings, allowing six hits and two unearned runs while striking out seven without issuing a walk. He threw 93 pitches, including 64 strikes, before handing the ball over to Nicholas Moreno, who worked the final two innings to secure the victory.

Cerritos broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Mateo Heredia delivered an RBI double to right-center field to score Jose Perez for the game's first run. Later in the inning, CJ Berthon was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to bring home another run and extend the lead to 2-0.

The Falcons added to their advantage in the fifth when Jose Perez singled up the middle, scoring Andrew Perez to make it 3-0.

Pasadena City capitalized on a pair of errors in the top of the seventh to score two unearned runs and trim the deficit to 3-2. However, Cerritos quickly responded in the bottom half of the inning.

Tyler Peshke led off the frame with a no-doubt solo home run to left field. After getting some traffic on the bases, Heredia and Brody Cuellar both added to the lead with RBI singles. Berthon lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score another run, and Luke Crowder capped the inning with an RBI single to left-center as the Falcons pushed the lead to 8-2.

Jose Perez finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while Heredia went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored. Cuellar added two hits and an RBI in the win.

Cerritos is back in action at Kincaid Field tomorrow, to take on the Compton College Coyotes as the Falcons continue South Coast Conference play.