Andrew Schatz had a two-run double and a solo homer on Saturday but SBCC came out on the short end of a 7-5 baseball decision at Moorpark.
The Vaqueros (21-15, 11-6) remained in first in the WSC North, 1½ games ahead of Moorpark (18-20, 10-8) and Cuesta (17-21, 10-8) and 2½ ahead of Ventura (19-19, 9-9). SBCC has three games left while the three pursuers have two remaining.
Schatz, a sophomore catcher from Lafayette, Calif., went 2-4 with three RBIs. He gave the Vaqueros a 2-0 lead with a two-run double in the second. The Raiders tied it at 2 on a leadoff homer by Daniel Cipriano in the fourth. They added four more runs in the inning to lead 6-2.
Tyler Rosen had an RBI double in the fifth and Reinhard Lautz drove in Joseph Hamilton in the seventh to make it 6-4. Schatz hit his third homer in the eighth, cutting the deficit to 7-5. Lautz went 3-4 and extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
The Vaqueros, ranked No. 10 in Southern Cal, have made the Southern Cal Regional for six straight years and are seeking their fourth conference crown in the last seven years.
They'll play their last three regular-season games in four days next week. They'll host Oxnard in a rain makeup on Monday, then entertain Ventura on Tuesday with both starting at 2:30 p.m.
They finish up on Thursday at Ventura, also at 2:30 p.m.