Freshman first baseman Zach Diaz repeated one word when discussing what aspects of the game the Cerritos College Baseball squad needs to improve on.

“Hitting,” Diaz stated. “We really need to focus and work on our hitting.”

The team is set to face the El Camino College Compton Center Tartars in the second game of a three game series on Thursday, a foe that was 2-1 in the South Coast Conference while sporting a 7-7 overall record before facing the Falcons.

“If we outhit the (Tartars), we will win every game,” Diaz said.

“But we need to out pitch them, as well, and we will win this series.”

The Tartars were a statistically impressive team entering the game versus the Falcon’s Thursday, with multiple players touting records on the California Community College Athletic Association page.

Not only do they have a player Oscar Munoz holding the third best batting average in the league at .385, but their left handed pitcher Omar Pelayo has already struck out 31 opponents at the mound.

Freshman outfielder Johnny Martinez knows that it will come down to the specifics in order to grab all three of the games versus El Camino Compton.

“We need to start getting certain jobs done, like (when) there’s a guy on second hit the ball on the right side in order to move them over and bring them in,” Martinez explained.

“Really, we need to work on our specific hitting.”

The Falcons will unfortunately have to face two of the three games versus the Tartars away from Kincaid Field, which has been problematic to their standings thus far in the season.

Out of the team’s six victories, only two of them have appeared away from home.

Four of the Falcon’s nine losses were away from Cerritos College, as well.

No matter what diamond the team is on, however, the numerous runners that are left in scoring position have left the players scratching their heads.

“We need to fix the little things like getting the runners over… not being selfish and only worrying about ourselves,” Martinez added.

“We really just need to hit the ball.”

Diaz continued, “We need to get those runs, because we cannot leave them out there like that.”