With their 14-5 South Coast Conference win over Pasadena City College on Monday afternoon, the Cerritos College baseball team moved back into a second place tie. Not only did the win put the Falcons (17-10, 9-3) into a tie for second place tie, it marked the team's first three-game sweep of the season. Cerritos will take that momentum into the start of their series with first place Long Beach City College (18-9, 10-2) on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. at Joe Hicks Field.

The Falcons scored once in the top of the first inning against the Lancers (8-19, 2-10), as they loaded the bases on a lead-off double by sophomore shortstop Daniel Lopez (Montebello HS), a walk to sophomore first baseman Mike Heenan (JSerra HS) and infield bunt by sophomore outfielder Mark Pena (Bell Gardens HS). Lopez then came home on a sacrifice fly by sophomore catcher Gary James (Sunny Hills HS).

But sophomore starting pitcher Adrian Ramirez (Santiago HS) encountered some trouble in the bottom of the stanza, allowing two runs on two singles, two walks, a hit batter and an error. Ramirez was pulled before the end of the inning in favor of freshman Alexander Noriega (Carson HS), who tossed four innings and picked up his first collegiate win. Freshman Mitchell Peak (Goodpasture Christian School, TN HS) also turned in 3 1/3 innings of relief, which was his longest outing of the season.

Cerritos put the game out of reach with seven runs in the third inning and five more in the fourth inning. Heenan drew his second of four walks on the day to lead off the inning, while Pena clubbed a double, which was the second of his four hits against the Lancers. An RBI ground out by James was followed by an RBI single from sophomore outfielder Fermin Beza (California HS/William Jessup University). Freshman designated hitter Kevin Sainz (Valley Christian HS) added an RBI single, with Lopez hitting a triple to bring home two more runs. Pena finished the inning with an RBI single.

A two-run double by James drove in a pair of runs in the fourth inning, which also included RBI singles by Sainz and Pena, with Lopez bringing in a run on a fielder's choice.

Lopez concluded the game going 4-for-6 with three RBI and three runs scored. He was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle, with Pena also going 4-for-6. James drove in four runs in the win, while Heenan drew four free passes. The trio of Sainz, Beza and sophomore Kenton McDonald (Long Beach Poly HS) all added two hits, with Cerritos finishing with 16 hits and nine walks.