The Hornets are leading with the bats and backing it up with great pitching. With this combo the Hornets are looking to build upon last season’s second round exit from the playoffs.

Fullerton has outscored their opponents 66-26 through the first nine games of the season. The Hornets have 118 hits on the season and have a .345 batting average.

Austin O’Banion is leading the Hornet offense with 16 RBIs and two home runs. O’Banion is third on the team with a .406 batting average.

Not to be outdone, the Hornet pitching staff is pulling their weight with a team ERA of 2.25. It is easy to see why the Hornets are having such success with everyone running on all cylinders.

Head coach Nick Fuscardo has has three starting pitchers with multiple wins and will look to last season’s closer Randell Ortiz to lead the group.

Ortiz has struck out 21 batters in just 19 innings pitched, he also carries a 2.37 ERA. Ortiz’s best performance came in the Hornets’ 1-0 home opener win over Palomar College, where he struck out 11 batters in a complete game shutout.

“Randell is a great player and a great young man too, he has the drive and the grades to play at the [Division I] level,” said Fuscardo.

There is a new format in the Orange Empire Conference baseball scheduling where teams will compete three times a week against the same opponent. This replaces the old two games series followed by one more game later in the season.

In a season when Fuscardo got his 600th win as a community college manager, he has his focus set on this year’s team.

“With the new format that first game means so much more but we got our plan, win the week,” said Fuscardo “I’ve got some good guys here, this season is going to be a magical one just watch.”

Fullerton (8-1) will be on the road at Cerritos College (6-2) Feb. 26 at 2 p.m. The next Hornet home game will be Saturday Feb. 27 at 1 p.m.