FOLSOM --- Trailing 8-1 after five innings, Taft College scored 13 runs over the final four innings to pull out an amazing 14-11 win at Folsom Lake College on Sunday to close out a three-game series.
The Cougars actually led early on thanks to an RBI single from Jordan Phillips in top of the first that drove in Jesus Cruz.
Phillips, who started on the mound for TC, got knocked around in the second, allowing five runs. Folsom Lake added single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to take the commanding 8-1 advantage.
Taft finally got back on the board in the top of the sixth when a Folsom Lake error allowed a pair of runs to score. The Falcons got a run back in the bottom of the sixth before the Cougars blew the game open.
TC sent nine batters to the plate in the seventh on its way to a five-run inning. Chris Scherbarth was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run, Tyren Dorrance followed with an RBI single, Casey Henderson drove in two with his bases-loaded single, and Sean Ogrin cut the Falcons' lead to 9-8 with his sacrifice bunt to score a run.
Scherbarth came right back in the eighth and tied up the contest with a clutch two-out single that scored Tanner Phillips. And in the ninth, the Cougars erupted for five more runs to take the lead for good. Jordan Phillips smacked an RBI triple to drive in Ogrin with the go-ahead run and Dorrance supplied the big blow, a two-out, two-run double to close out TC's scoring.
Folsom Lake rallied for two run in the bottom of the ninth but reliver Haruki Uoi was able to strand a pair of runners on base to end the game.
Blake Logan picked up the win in relief as he tossed a scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth innings.
Taft put up a season-high 11 hits in the contest. Dorrance led the charge, going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI. Scherbarth drove in three runs, going 2 for 4 while Henderson (1 for 5) and Jordan Phillips (2 for 5) both had 2 RBI.
The Cougars had a tougher time in the first two games of the series, falling 16-4 in the opener on Friday and 6-2 in Game 2 on Saturday.
Ogrin went 3 for 4 with two runs, a double, and an RBI to lead Taft at the plate on Friday. TC was held to just three hits in Saturday's contest. Jordan Phillips was 1 for 3 with an RBI double.
Taft, now 3-4 overall, returns to action on Thursday (Feb. 10) when the Cougars host Bakersfield College in a non-conference game.