College Roundup: OCC men’s volleyball clinches at least share of conference title

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Orange Coast def. Irvine Valley

The host Pirates clinched at least a share of the Pacific Coast Conference title and assured themselves of being the conference’s No. 1 postseason representative with a 25-19, 27-25, 25-21 triumph on Wednesday.

Earning the conference’s No. 1 playoff seeding propels OCC (17-1, 10-1 in conference) directly into the State Final Four that begins April 23 at Santiago Canyon College. OCC owns the tiebreaker advantage with PCC co-leader Grossmont, based on games won in the two matches the teams split.

Ty Hutchins had 15 kills and Jim Webb added 13 on Wednesday for the Pirates, who complete the regular season Friday at last-place San Diego Mesa.

Brandon Duff had 39 assists to help OCC claim its third PCC title in four seasons, the 16th in the 31-season history of the program.

Irvine Valley fell to 11-7, 7-4.

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BASEBALL

Orange Coast 13, Saddleback 3

MISSION VIEJO — Chris Iriart belted a grand slam, while Cody Nulph and Cody Brider both went two for four with two runs batted in to propel the visiting Pirates in the Orange Empire Conference game Tuesday.

The win helped OCC (22-9, 10-7 in conference), close to within one game of the first-place Gauchos. OCC, which won the three-game season series with Saddleback, 2-1, is tied for second with Santa Ana.

It was the seventh homer of the season for Iriart, tops in the state.

Jacob Hill allowed two runs on six hits in five innings to improve to 9-0 for the Pirates, who had 11 hits and did not commit an error.

Saddleback (19-10, 11-6) had three errors that led to two unearned runs.

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SOFTBALL

Orange Coast 5, Golden West 3

Katie Kendrick went three for four with one run batted in and Briana Magdaleno was two for three with two RBIs to pace the host Pirates, who scored two runs in the sixth to break a 3-3 tie in the Orange Empire Conference game Wednesday.

Tajanae Green made a diving catch that turned into a double play to help close out the win in the seventh for OCC (8-18, 3-13).

Kellie Tiner allowed seven hits and no earned runs in a complete-game effort to earn the win and Ariana Lopez had two hits for the winners.

Golden West is 2-28, 0-16.