SACRAMENTO, CA (MPG) – The Del Campo varsity baseball team finished off a three-game sweep of the Rio Americano Raiders on Friday afternoon as the Cougars now set their sights on a Capital Athletic League title.

DC (17-4, 7-2 Capital Athletic) and Rio (12-11, 7-5) came into the series that began Monday, April 18 each in contention for the league title with two losses in Capital Athletic play. However, with an impressive three-game sweep that included outscoring the Raiders 31-11, the Cougars are now in a two-team race for the Capital Athletic League with the Vista Del Lago Eagles (16-5, 6-3).

The Cougars and Eagles met head-to-head earlier in the season for a three-game series and Vista Del Lago took the first two before DC salvaged the last game. Each game’s outcome was decided by one run. That series may factor in at the conclusion of the season if tiebreakers are needed.

“From that series we took that you got to play every pitch as hard as you can because we really were two pitches away from sweeping that series and we lost two out of three,” DC coach Kevin Dawidczik said. “So just knowing that we got to take care of the baseball is a really important part of our philosophy.”

Rio hosted the first game of the series against DC on Monday afternoon at Jerry Kaeser Field. The Cougars got the scoring started early, plating one run in the top of the first inning. The Raiders responded well in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs to take the lead.

However, the conclusion of the first inning was the best Rio players and their fans would feel for the rest of the game, as DC scored nine unanswered runs and went on to win 10-3. The Cougars scored one in the second, two in the third, five in the fourth and one in the seventh inning.

DC senior outfielder Jordan Jacobson had a great day at the plate Monday, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances. Jacobson, who is committed to play collegiately at Sacramento State next year, had three hits (including one double), two RBI, one walk and one stolen base.

The Cougars were led to the win on the mound by senior pitchers Hayden Hughes and Thomas Martinez who earned the win and save, respectively. Hughes pitched five innings, allowing eight hits, three earned runs and one walk with eight strikeouts. Martinez tossed two innings as he allowed two hits and punched out two. Junior pitcher Chase Christenson suffered the loss for the Raiders after pitching three and a third innings, giving up eight hits, nine runs (eight earned) and two walks with two strikeouts.

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The second game of the series Wednesday, April 20, was played at DC. The Cougars scored first again, plating three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Rio immediately countered once more, scoring four runs in the top of the third inning to take a one-run lead. Unfortunately for the Raiders, history repeated itself, as DC scored twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to retake the lead at 6-4 which ultimately was the final score.

Martinez followed up his save on the mound Monday with a strong performance using the lumber Wednesday, earning a hit in all three of his at-bats with two runs scored and one stolen base. Junior pitcher Matt Moses earned the win for the Cougars after tossing a complete game going seven innings, allowing six hits, four runs (one earned) and two walks with seven strikeouts.

“For me, I threw my change-up really well against them and was able to keep them off balance,” Moses said. “It got a little out of hand in the third inning but other than that we played really good defense. For our staff, we really just attacked their hitters. They have good bats, but we have good defense and defense wins championships.”

Rio junior pitcher Brady Wilson pitched four and two-thirds, giving up eight hits, six runs (five earned) and two walks while striking out five.

The third and final game of the series Friday took place back at Jerry Kaeser Field. DC jumped out to the early lead for the third consecutive game scoring twice in the top of the first inning and once in the top of the second to take a 3-0 lead after two frames. Moses got the game started with a leadoff single followed up by a stolen base to get to second and an error by the Raiders to advance to third base. Moses scored the game’s first run thanks to a sacrifice RBI ground out from junior infielder Anthony Martinez.

The Cougars scored their second run of the first on a solo home run to right field by Jacobson. DC hit another bomb in the second inning, this time a solo blast by senior catcher Logan McCord. Rio responded in the bottom of the third inning, scoring three times to even the score.

Senior designated hitter Ryan Christiansen scored two runs with one swing of the bat for the Raiders, launching a two-run homer in the third. Christiansen is set to play college baseball at Sac State next year for his dad, Reggie, who is the team’s coach.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars all but put the game away, scoring five runs to take a commanding lead. DC scored the first run of the inning on a double from junior catcher Robbie Perry to retake the lead. Then, Moses stepped up to the plate and crushed a two-run homer, bouncing off the top of the green storage bin in left field, silencing the home crowd and drawing cheers from the Cougar faithful who made the short 15-minute drive.

DC added on three more runs in the fifth and four in the sixth. Rio scored once in the bottom of the fifth, but it was all for naught. The game ended after six innings due to the 10-run mercy rule and the Cougars won 15-4, completing the three-game sweep to sit atop the Capital Athletic League.

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“Our guys play with a lot of poise and control, we work on it religiously and we had a good approach,” Dawidczik said. “We knew a lot about their team, pitching staff and what they were going to throw at us. Their sequences seemed to be kind of similar and we just had a really good plan to execute and never panicked.

“I think this group is really senior heavy and (with) guys who have been there before and guys who are poised to play hard no matter what the score is. So, answering back has kind of been our motto.”

Moses shined once again for DC, reaching base in four out of five plate appearances. The junior center fielder had three hits, three runs scored, two RBI, two stolen bases and one walk. Two of his three hits went for extra bases as Moses had one double and one home run in the blowout victory.

“I was seeing the fastball really well,” Moses said. “It had gotten to the point where they just never threw me the fastball, so I was able to sit on off-speed (pitches) and see it well and drive it.”

Christiansen went 2-for-3 with two hits, two runs scored and two RBI for the Raiders. The 6-foot-2 senior also had one double and one homer.

Junior pitcher Auston Wilhelm got the start on the bump for the Cougars as he pitched three innings allowing three hits, three earned runs and one walk with two strikeouts. Junior pitcher Evan Johnson earned the win for DC after pitching two innings and giving up two hits and one earned run. Junior pitcher Caden Beloian took the loss for Rio as he pitched three and a third innings allowing seven hits, six earned runs and one walk with one K.

The Cougars have now won 13 of their last 14 games and four in a row. Del Campo plays a three-game series against El Camino this week. The Raiders play a three-game set against Sacramento.