The Force was not with the Taft College baseball team on Tuesday as the Cougars lost an 8-2 Central Valley Conference game at Fresno City College.
Both squads totaled eight hits each in the contest, but the Cougars stranded nine runners on base and managed just one earned run off FCC starter Marcelo Saldana.
Taft scored first in the contest, taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning after Julian DeLeon's sacrifice fly brought home R.J. Munoz.
The Rams responded with three runs off TC starting pitcher Jackson Van Roekel in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.
The Cougars added their final run in the third. Christian Wilson laced an RBI-single to score Andres Garza in what appeared to be the making of a big inning. After DeLeon walked, TC had the bases loaded with no outs. But Saldana struck out a pair of batters and got a fielder's choice ground out at home to extinguish the threat.
Van Roekel pitched well despite the loss. He allowed two earned runs and six hits over six innings. At the plate, Munoz went 2 for 4 with a pair of doubles while Wilson also had two hits and an RBI.
The loss dropped Taft to 1-13 overall and 1-10 in the CVC. The two teams wrap up a quick two-game series on Wednesday (May 5) at 2 p.m. in Taft.