Gavilan completes series sweep of Cabrillo with 8-4 road win

APTOS — Gavilan College completed a three-game Coast Conference series sweep of Cabrillo College on Friday, riding a four-run, sixth-inning and a strong outing from starter Brayden Martinez to an 8-4 road victory.

Martinez worked eight innings, allowing two earned runs on nine hits while striking out eight to earn the win and improve to 2-3 on the season. He threw 100 pitches, 71 for strikes.

The Rams scored first in the second inning, when a pair of Cabrillo errors at second base allowed two unearned runs to score. Cabrillo trimmed the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth on an Ellis Lubiens RBI single, but Gavilan answered with a run in the fifth on a Jacob Gilbreath single and then broke the game open in the sixth.

Catcher Diego Flores delivered the big blow of the inning, a two-run single up the middle that scored Mateo Alcantar and Jacob Huerta. Two more runs scored before the frame ended, pushing Gavilan's lead to 7-1. Jeremiah Odum added an insurance RBI single to center in the seventh to make it 8-1.

Flores finished with three RBIs and two runs scored. Ricky Wilkerson went 1-for-4 with a double, an RBI and three stolen bases. Odum drove in two runs, and Gilbreath went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Gavilan stole five bases on the afternoon.

Cabrillo made things interesting in the ninth when pinch-hitter Blaine Mitchell singled and was aided by a Gavilan error in center field, plating three runs to close the gap to 8-4. Eric Richard came on in relief to strand the threat and preserve the win.

The Rams dominated the series, outscoring the Seahawks by a combined 30-6 margin over the three games. Gavilan opened the series with a 10-1 win at Cabrillo on Tuesday and followed that with a 12-1 victory in Gilroy on Thursday. 

Gavilan moved to 11-14 overall and is 3-3 in the Coast Conference South Division. The Rams are back in action on Tuesday (Mar. 24) when they open another three-game Coast South series at home against West Valley College.