Suns Knock Off No. 2 Eastfield, 17-11

LANCASTER, Texas – Dallas College Cedar Valley knocked off second-ranked Dallas College Eastfield, 17-11, Wednesday to take the first game of a three-game Dallas Athletic Conference series.

Game 2 is scheduled for noon Thursday at Cedar Valley.

It was the Suns' third win of the week, and marked the biggest win of the season thus far for Cedar Valley under longtime coach Robert Dally. The Suns moved a game over .500 overall, improving to 21-20 and 5-14 in the DAC.

Eastfield fell to 34-9 overall, 16-3 in the league, and is now tied with fifth-ranked Dallas College Richland at the top of the league standings.

Cedar Valley raced out to a 9-0 lead after two innings, scoring four in the first and five more in the second. Eastfield exploded for five more in the third and another in the fourth to pull within three. But the Suns added two more in the bottom of the fourth, and after the Harvester Bees put a 3-spot on the board in the sixth, Cedar Valley responded with five more in the bottom half of the inning. That gave the Suns a 16-9 lead.

Suns closer Ethan Thompson-Nguyen held the Bees to a hit and a walk over the final two innings to lock down the victory.

Aiden Hatton and Daniel Brandon III both had three hits, and drove in a run for the Suns, which pounded 17 hits. Homar Barrera-Lopez was 2-for-4 with a home run, triple and four RBI. Zachary Mikes was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Lane Atherton had two hits, and drove in two runs. Jordan Anguiano was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI.

Eight of the nine batters in the Suns' lineup had at least one hit.

Suns starter Keller Thompson improved to 5-3, going 5.1 innings, allowing seven hits, nine runs, four earned, and four walks, and struck out five. Avery Dubose worked 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk, and struck out two. Thompson-Nguyen didn't surrender a run, and had one strikeout in his two innings of relief.