In their return to conference play, the Buccaneers had two games decided by a total of three runs. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong side of both of those finishes as they fell to La Sierra, 7-6 and 17-15 on Friday in Riverside, Calif.

Game 1: La Sierra 7, Park Gilbert 6

Timely hitting often decides the winner of one-run games. In game one, that was certainly the case. The Buccaneers had 11 hits and no trouble reaching base, but they stranded 10 runners throughout the game.

Despite that, the Buccaneers threatened late when Logan Livingston hit his second double of the game to score Travis Moore and Joey Martinez. Down just one run, their lack of timely hitting came back to haunt them as they stranded three in the final two frames.

Frank Racioppo was the Buccaneers' most effective pitcher of the day, throwing two scoreless innings and setting his team up for a comeback attempt that came up short.

In a deja vu from this week's Kalamazoo series, DJ Downen hit a two-run shot in the first inning to give the Buccaneers an early lead. The Golden Eagles responded by scoring in each of the first four innings; they scored seven runs off of starting pitcher Nick Marcon and reliever Connor Barton.

The other two Buccaneers runs came across in the third and fifth innings. The third inning run came when Downen got his third RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly that scored Chris Amador. Austin Chouinard hit his sixth home run of the season to score the Bucs' sixth and final run.

Four Buccaneers (Alex Stinnett, Martinez, Aaron Lizarraga and Livingston) doubled in the game. Martinez went 3-4 with a run, while Downen finished 1-2 with a run, three RBI and two walks. Chouinard and Livingston each registered two hits.

Game 2: La Sierra 17, Park Gilbert 15

Normally, 15 runs is enough to win a baseball game. But in game two, the Buccaneers' pitching and defensive effort did not match their offensive production.

The Buccaneers were in good shape early and jumped out to a 5-1 lead. Alex Stinnett homered solo homered in the first to get things started. Four scored in the second inning when Joel Adamson and Aaron Stinnett singled to score Joey and Joaquin Martinez. Adamson scored via Alex Stinnett's sacrifice fly.

Downen hit one of his two doubles to lead off the fifth inning and scored via Joey Martinez's ground out. Aaron Lizarraga hit a solo homer to extend the Bucs' lead to six.

They held that lead until the fourth when the Golden Eagles exploded for 10 runs between the fourth and fifth innings. It took three pitchers to get the team out of the fifth inning, but the bleeding never really stopped. Head coach Kelly Stinnett burned four pitchers before the game's end.

What made the day even more pitchers' situation even more difficult was the prolonged innings caused by five Buccaneers errors. Four of them occurred during the Golden Eagles' five-run fifth inning.

The Buccaneers had a bit of an explosion after that with six runs in the sixth and two in the eighth. Alex Stinnett and Adamson each singled to score Aaron Stinnett, Lizarraga and Downen. Downen's second double that got him on base scored Alex Stinnett and Chouinard.

The eighth inning runs came courtesy of a two-RBI single from Lizarraga, who drove in Joey and Joaquin Martinez. But the Golden Eagles kept tacking on runs- six in the final three innings- to secure the win.

What's Next: The Buccaneers finish up their series with another doubleheader against La Sierra on Sunday morning at 11 a.m. in Riverside, Calif.