Holding on to a 1-0 lead heading into the ninth inning, the Cerritos College baseball team saw an error lead to three Golden West runs in a non-conference loss on Tuesday. The setback was the third in a row for the Falcons (4-6), who will now travel to Santa Ana College for a 2:00 p.m. non-conference game on Thursday.

The lone run of the game prior to the ninth inning was an RBI single from sophomore third baseman Hayden Stevens (Katella HS), which plated sophomore outfielder Jared Robinson (Bishop Amat HS), who doubled with two outs.

Freshman starting pitcher Kyle Carpenter (Mayfair HS) struggled with his accuracy at times during the game, but was able to get outs when needed. He tossed the first seven innings and allowed four hits to go along with four walks and two strikeouts. He worked out of situations in the first, third and sixth innings to maintain the shutout.

Coming on in relief was freshman Joe Fernandez (La Habra HS), who allowed a single, walk and hit batter in the eighth inning and needed a strikeout against Daniel Romo to escape the bases loaded situation. His troubles continued in the ninth inning, as Fernandez (0-1) walked pinch-hitter Alex Tovar to start the stanza. Frank Califano then laid down a bunt along the first base line, where Fernandez struggled to find the handle and was off line on his toss to first base for an error.

Sophomore Jonathan Grana (Downey HS) came in for Fernandez and got James Stea to hit into a fielder's choice, which cut down Tovar at third base. Facing Jordan Lucio, the Rustlers pulled off a double-steal one pitcher before Lucio singled to left field, which drove in both runners. After advancing to second base on the throw home, Lucio moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield out.

Cerritos had a chance early in the game to take a lead, as they loaded the bases with two outs, but freshman shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS) grounded out to end the threat. The only two hits on the day for the Falcons came in the third inning when they scored their lone run.