Two runs in the third inning gave Santa Rosa Junior College control over American River College in its 8-2 victory Wednesday.

A balk ARC starting pitcher Matt Gunter with runners in scoring position allowed a run, giving SRJC a three-run lead by the third.

SRJC catcher Ryan Haug’s two run single in the fourth stretched its lead to five.

Haug went 2-3 with three runs and a pair of walks for the game.

For ARC, offense was hard to come by and the only extra base hit occurred in the seventh inning.

That hit came off the bat of ARC right fielder Alex Gaskin, who legged out a double and was the first of a two-run inning.

SRJC had a comfortable six run lead by the eighth inning they decided to retire starting pitcher Alec Rennard.

Rennard threw for seven innings allowed only five hits with two earned runs, no walks and seven strikeouts.

Gunter had to sit by the fourth inning after giving up 5 runs with four earned and nine hits.

ARC pitcher Andrew Fuentes replaced Gunter in the sixth inning and had given up an additional two runs by walking two consecutive players in a bases loaded situation to give SRJC a 7-0 lead.

The game marked the beginning of a three game series for ARC, and they will play SRJC in Santa Rosa tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.

The loss drops ARC’s overall record to 12-16 for the season and 4-9 in conference.

SRJC center fielder Bryce Nagata’s one run triple with two outs in the seventh to extend the lead 8-0.

ARC head coach Doug Jumelet declined to comment on the game and did not make players available for interviews.