SBCC built leads of 6-2 and 10-4 on Thursday, then survived a four-run Hancock rally in the ninth to record a 10-8 baseball victory in Santa Maria.
Tyler Rosen went 2-5 with a three-run homer in the eighth. Wesley Ghan-Gibson had three doubles and an RBI. John Jensen went 2-5 with two RBIs, raising his team-leading average to .337. Reinhard Lautz was 1-3 with an RBI and three stolen bases.
The Vaqueros improved to 16-11 overall and 7-4 in the WSC North. They're alone in second place, one game behind Cuesta and one in front of Ventura and Moorpark (6-5). The Bulldogs fell to 11-17 and 4-7.
The Vaqueros used seven pitchers and Hancock sent six to the mound. Connor Brewster (2-2) got the win by throwing the first four innings. He gave up two runs (one earned) on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks.
A trio of Vaquero hurlers struck out 13 Bulldogs. Brewster had six Ks, Daniel Buratto four and Jake Keily fanned three of four batters.
After falling behind 2-0, the Vaqueros took the lead for good, 3-2, in the fifth. They loaded the bases and Joseph Hamilton scored on an error, then Jensen delivered a two-run single. They stretched the lead to 4-2 in the sixth when catcher Zack Stockton singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and stole home.
The margin grew to 6-2 in the seventh when Jake Holton singled and scored on a double by Ghan-Gibson. Stockton was hit by a pitch and Rosen scored on a wild pitch. Hancock got two runs in the seventh and then Rosen unloaded his third homer, a three-run shot with two outs in the eighth.
The Vaqueros made it 10-4 in the top of the ninth on a triple from Blake Ogburn and a sacrifice fly by Hamilton. Hancock scored four runs on two hits, four walks and two hit batters in the bottom of the ninth. Kyle Basch came in to pitch with the bases loaded and two outs and got his first save by inducing Brandon Davis to fly out to center.
The Vaqueros will host Hancock on Saturday at 1 p.m.