Santa Ana, Calif. - The Dons claimed the rubber match against Golden West College with a 9-8 win in an Orange Empire Conference.  

The win didn't come easy to the Dons (16-7, 5-6) as Golden West (11-13, 4-7) rallied from an 8-3 deficit with five runs in the eighth inning. The game-tying run came on a passed ball with two outs.

Santa Ana got on the scoreboard first, with 3 runs in the first inning, and another 2 in the bottom of the thrid.

Golden West cut the Dons lead to 5-1 in the fourth with the Rustlers first hit of the game, a solo home run by Thomas Walker. The Rustlers added two more runs in the fifth inning, on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly, to set up the 8-3 Don lead.

The top of the 8th brought new life to the Rustler's bench with 5 runs and a chance to take the win. Now tied 8-8, the game seemed destined to go beyond 10 innings as the Dons fell to two outs despite getting their first two batters on base.

The game winning run came to Santa Ana and the contest was over with an extra inning.