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FULLERTON – As the stakes get bigger late in the baseball season, it is not uncommon to see hitters grip their bats a little tighter.

The pitchers certainly had the edge in a game between the top two teams in the Freeway League on Wednesday.

Jake Eisner and Vince Stachelski combined on a four-hit shutout as host Troy defeated Sonora, 1-0, to strengthen their hold on first place in league.

Eisner (6-2) allowed just three hits over the first 52/3 innings before giving way to Stachelski, who earned a four-out save for Troy (16-6, 9-1).

Following a win over Fullerton on Friday, Warriors coach David Shirota warned his team about this week’s two-game series against the Raiders (14-10, 7-3), who entered Wednesday’s contest having won 12 of their last 13 games.

Junior Dylan Villalobos started on the mound for the Raiders, who are trying to win the league title for the fourth year in a row. The right-hander was superb in a complete-game effort in which he held the Warriors to three hits.

Troy scored its run came in the third. Ryan Park singled with two outs. A balk by Villalobos moved Park to second base, and the Warriors catcher scored on a base hit up the middle by PJ Gordon.

“With a runner on second and two strikes, I just tried to shorten up and put the ball in play to try to score him somehow,” Gordon said. “This game was probably the biggest game that we’ve played all year so far.”

Eisner said he relied on improved control to limit Sonora’s baserunners.

“I started off the year walking probably three or four guys per game,” Eisner said. “I’ve really just worked on spotting my fastball, and today I was able to do that.”

The Warriors have five league games remaining, including a contest Friday at Sonora. Troy has won the first two games of the three-game season series with the Raiders..