On Thursday in the first of a three-game series against host Bakersfield College, the Cerritos College baseball team pushed across four runs in the second inning to take an early lead. However, the run support would be unable to hold up, as the Renegades scored six unearned runs and posted a 6-4 win. It was the first meeting between the two teams since 2002. They will face off at 5:00 p.m. on Friday in the second game of their series.

In the top of the second inning, Cerritos was able to score their runs on only two hits, as Bakersfield committed a pair of errors. Freshman outfielder Isaiah Rios (St. John Bosco HS) led off by reaching on an error, followed by freshman second baseman Dylan Immel (El Segundo HS) drawing a walk. The two advanced a base on a passed ball before sophomore shortstop DJ Massey (Gahr HS/Central Arizona College) brought home the first run with a single, followed by an RBI double from sophomore shortstop Anthony Bassett (Colegio Bautista de Managua, Nicaragua/Los Angeles Harbor College). The Falcons would end up leaving the bases loaded.

Riding the arm of sophomore starting pitcher Franky Lopez (Dominguez HS), Cerritos held a 4-1 lead through the first six innings. Lopez scattered seven hits and struck out six batters, with the lone run coming across the plate in the third inning. Sophomore relief pitcher Cade Sonoqui (Long Beach Millikan HS) struggled with his control and allowed five runs (all unearned) and issued five walks in his 1 2/3 innings of work.

Bakersfield tied the game in the seventh inning, as they collected a pair of singles and then a two-out walk to load the bases. A throwing error by newly-inserted freshman catcher Ryan Reyes (Los Alamitos HS) allowed two of the runs to score, while a bases loaded walk pushed home the third run of the inning. A pair of walks and an error on a third strike loaded the bases for the Renegades with two outs in the eighth inning, as they scored the eventual game-winning runs on a two-out base hit off sophomore relief pitcher Keanu Rodriguez (Los Altos HS).

Cerritos was able to get a pair of runners on base in the top of the ninth inning, but a double play and a fly out ended the game.