The Rio Hondo Men’s Baseball team endured their first loss in nearly a month as they were defeated by Chaffey College in the final game of a three-game series starting on April 19, by a score of 15-4 at Rio Hondo.

The series began at home for the Roadrunners on Tuesday with pitching ace Joe Willis getting the call for game one. Willis has put together some fine performances over the last month, boasting a pitching record of 4-0 since mid-March.

Tuesday was no different, and Willis enjoyed yet another solid pitching performance as he finished his start with six and two-third innings pitched with three runs earned.

Willis’ run support came early when the Roadrunners opened the scoring immediately in the first inning with some help from Chaffey.

Shortstop Gabe Chavez scored on a throwing error by Chaffey’s second-baseman Oscar Martinez and left-fielder Albert Perez singled home designated hitter R.J. Romo, making it two runs in the inning.

Plenty more run support came in the third and sixth innings, when Rio dropped four runs apiece in each of those two frames.

The Roadrunners used homers by right-fielder Jordan Abernathy and first-baseman Randy Buenrostro in the third inning, then later displayed a hitting clinic led by the middle of their lineup in the sixth inning.

Game one went to Rio, finishing 13-4 with game two on the road at Chaffey College.

That game was played on April 21 with Chaffey hoping to avenge the loss just two days prior, but the Roadrunners were aware of what Chaffey looked to accomplish, so Rio was keen to match their intensity.

Game two was dominated by pitching through two-thirds of the game until the Roadrunners opened the scoring first in the top of the sixth inning.

Chaffey’s starting pitcher Daniel Honorof had done well, holding a red-hot Rio offense to zeroes through five innings, but RBIs by Romo and third-baseman Mike Hernandez made it two for Rio in the sixth inning.

Chaffey would keep Honorof in to start the seventh and it did not take long for the Roadrunners to take advantage.

Romo earned another RBI for his team, which also saw the end of Honorof, and Hernandez would get second-baseman Mauricio Guadarrama home by earning a walk and his second RBI of the day.

That proved to be enough as the 7-3 win makes it five straight victories on the road for Rio, all coming in conference play.

The series finale was played on April 23 with the Roadrunners looking to earn another sweep within the conference.

The game started off bright for the home team, scoring on an error made by Chaffey shortstop Cody Palmer, but fortunately for Palmer, that was  the only mistake he and his team would make that day.

He found some redemption in the top of the third, facing Rio starting pitcher Cameron Legrand, doubling home the third run in the inning.

Legrand was taken out of the game after Chaffey tacked on another run in the top of the sixth and ultimately scored four in the inning.

Up on the Roadrunners 7-2, Chaffey put away their rivals with another four-run inning in the top of the seventh with a bases-clearing triple by third-baseman Kevin Riley, who then, too, scored on an error by Rio Hondo relief-pitcher Avery Vasquez.

The 15-4 home defeat ended the Roadrunners’ 10-game winning streak and gave them their first home loss since Feb. 19.

Next up for the 21-12 Roadrunners was another three-game series within the conference. It will be the final series of the season, as they faced College of the Desert at home on April 26. Rio Hondo went on to win the first game of the three-game series by a score of 5-2.

Ruben Rios’ RBI single in the sixth inning which scored Hernandez proved to be the game winner. Pitcher Willis struck out 14 batters that afternoon, while Rio Hondo got a total of nine hits.

The Roadrunners are currently 22-12 overall and are only slightly behind first-place Chaffey College. Rio Hondo will continue game two of the three-game series on the road on April 28 at 2:30 p.m.