The Cerritos College baseball team scored runs in six different innings in their 7-3 win against visiting Citrus College on Thursday at Kincaid Field. The Falcons (2-1) will now host Victor Valley College at noon on Saturday in their second of five straight home games.

Making the most of a batting lineup change were sophomore Fermin Beza (California HS/William Jessup University) and Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS), who traded places in the #3 and #5 spot in the batting order.

Trailing 2-0 heading into the bottom of the first inning, Beza hit a two-out solo home run to cut the deficit in half and also went on to walk twice and score each time. As for Lopez, he was just a triple shy of hitting for the cycle and reached base five times. He saw his fly ball land inside the left-field foul pole for a solo home run in the seventh inning.

The Falcons scored single runs in five innings and then added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a two-out, two-run double by sophomore catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS).

After sophomore starting pitcher Jonathan Marriott (La Quinta HS) struggled in his 3 2/3 innings of work, allowing three runs on five hits, sophomore Travis Bonner (Cabrillo HS) came in and shut down the Owls. He allowed five hits in 4 2/3 innings and when he gave up a one-out single followed by a walk in the ninth inning, he was relieved by sophomore Jerald Johnston (California HS). Needing just four pitches, Johnston earned his first save of the season when he got a game-ending double play.

Cerritos tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning on a one-out single and stolen base by freshman third baseman Kevin Sainz (Valley Christian HS). He scored on a two-out triple by sophomore outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS), who extended his hitting streak to 15 games, dating back to last season.

A walk, throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt advanced Beza to second base before a fly out moved him to third base. He came home to score on a passed ball. The Falcons took the lead for good with an RBI single by freshman second base Derrick Edwards (Mary Star of the Sea HS) in the fifth inning, as the team opened the inning with three straight hits.

James and Lopez each had three hits on the day, while Beza and Edwards each finished with a pair of hits.