Noeh Martinez drilled a two-run double in a six-run third inning on Tuesday at Ventura and SBCC went on to defeat the Pirates 8-3 in the WSC North baseball opener for both schools.
James Brakka went 2-4, including a two-run double in the seventh that extended the lead to 8-2. Brandon Evans was 3-5 with an RBI.
SBCC, ranked No. 2 in Southern Cal, improved to 12-3 and 1-0 while the Pirates fell to 4-9 and 0-1.
Noah Villegas (3-0) went the first six inning for Santa Barbara, allowing two runs on six hits. Cody Van Aken pitched the seventh and eighth and Kit Larson turned in a scoreless ninth.
Ventura used 10 pitchers and they issued 10 walks. The Vaqueros scored their first two runs of the game on bases-loaded walks.
"It's nice to start 1-0 in conference," said coach Jeff Walker. "Our conference is always tough, so any win is a good win."
SBCC will host Ventura on Thursday at 2 p.m.