Leading 3-0 after seven innings, the Cerritos College baseball team saw visiting Citrus College tie the game in the eighth inning and then score the game-winning run in the ninth inning to defeat the Falcons, 4-3. Cerritos (0-1) will now host Los Angeles Valley College at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a 2:00 p.m. contest against College of the Canyons at Kincaid Field.

The Falcons scored single runs in the first, second and seventh inning and appeared to be in line for a solid win. Freshman starting pitcher Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS) tossed six shutout innings, but saw the bullpen surrender four runs on three hits, including a three-run home run by Mike Rowland off sophomore Javier Lozano (Bellflower HS) to tie the game at 3-3 in the eighth inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, Joshua Page tripled home Jonathan Rey with two outs off losing pitcher Dylan Algra (Valley Christian HS) in the top of the ninth inning. Cerritos put a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the ninth on a hit by pitch against sophomore catcher Cesar Castillo (Bellflower HS) and a single by freshman Johnny Martinez (Katella HS) with two outs. But a fly out by freshman Joseph Rivera (Savanna HS) ended the game.

Freshman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS) gave Cerritos a 1-0 lead in the first inning with an RBI triple, while freshman Joel Ayala (Maywood Academy HS) made it a 2-0 affair on a base hit up the middle in the second inning. In the seventh inning, Martinez drove in Castillo with a single after a base hit and stolen base.