City College baseball beat East L.A. 5-0 after a strong pitching performance to finish 7-1 in non-conference play on Thursday at Pershing Park.

The Vaqueros were led by starting pitcher Justin Bruce (No. 11) who pitched 7 shutout innings with 4 strikeouts. City College head coach Jeff Walker had high praise for Bruce after the game.

“Outstanding job,” Walker said. “He’s our guy, he’s our workhorse.”

After two scoreless innings Matthew Henderson (No. 6) hit an RBI single to score Matthew Gimenez (No. 2) to give City College a 1-0 lead in the third inning.

In the top of the fifth inning East L.A. had a man on third. They attempted the suicide squeeze to bring the run in, but the Vaqueros defense was ready for it and got the out at home plate.

The City College offense struck again in the sixth inning when Connor McManigal (No. 24) hit an RBI sacrifice fly that brought in Spencer Erdman (No. 5). Later in the inning, Brandon Evans (No. 13) scored on an error by East L.A. to give City College a 3-0 lead.

In the seventh inning the Vaqueros executed a double steal by Gimenez and Payton Malone (No. 8). Later in the inning both Gimenez and Malone would score on a double by Erdman.

The City College offense has produced four or more runs in each game so far this season.

“They’re always gonna be there,” Bruce said about the team’s offense.

In the eighth inning City College brought in Steven Ledesma (No. 33) to pitch. After giving up two singles and a walk L.A. East had the bases loaded with no outs. Ledesma worked his way out of the jam with a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.

City College will play Moorpark for its first conference matchup of the season on Saturday, Feb. 14 at Pershing Park.