COALINGA – It's been a tough couple of weeks for the West Hills College Coalinga baseball team.

On Saturday, the Falcons wrapped up a three-game Central Valley Conference series with a 17-9 loss to visiting Merced College. The Blue Devils completed a three-game sweep of West Hills after winning the opener 14-5 and taking Game 2 by a final score of 23-7.

This came after another three-game sweep to Fresno City College the week prior.

While the Falcons banged out 15 hits and scored nine runs on Saturday, 11 errors committed on the field ultimately led to the defeat.

Merced jumped out early, scoring six runs in the top of the first and three more in the second.

Trailing 10-2, West Hills got back into the game with a four-run, fourth-inning rally. But Merced responded with five runs in the fifth to put the game out of reach.

Jack Hanger and Jared Taijeron both drove in two runs each while Alex Lopez went 3 for 4 at the plate and scored three runs.

The loss dropped West Hills to 11-18 overall and 4-11 in the Central Valley Conference. The Falcons will look to snap a six-game losing streak on April 11 when they open another three-game conference series with Reedley College. Game 1 is set for 2 p.m. in Reedley.