No. 3 College of the Canyons suffered a 3-1 conference loss to host No. 19 L.A. Valley College on Tuesday, with the hard-hitting Cougars held scoreless until the seventh inning.

Canyons (12-4, 2-2) did manage 10 hits in the ballgame, including seven against Monarch starter Jesse Hobaica (5-1) who earned the win after seven strong innings of work.

However, the Cougars stranded nine runners on base. 

COC starter Jacob Muscial (4-1) took the loss despite matching Hobaica nearly pitch-for-pitch while lasting seven and 2/3 innings. Musical was charged for all three runs, but finished the game with a season-high 12 strikeouts.

The Monarchs scored first in the second inning and plated another run in the home half of the sixth to take a 2-0 lead.

In the following frame Cougar third baseman Wyatt Hoppie doubled to score Jake Spurlin and make it 2-1. But that would be all the offense Canyons could muster.

LAVC got a third RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning to hand the Cougars a 3-1 loss.

Hoppie finished the game 2-for-4 with the lone RBI. Leadoff man Chris McCready was 2-for-5 with a double.

The three-game series will next shift to Cougar Field with the Cougars set to host L.A. Valley at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday Mar. 17. The third and final game of the series will be held Mar. 18 back at LAVC.