Sophomore designated hitter Mitch Sancier delivered Patrick Caulfield with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth inning and closer Jake Holton stranded the potential tying run at third base in the top of the ninth as Santa Barbara City College won their third straight, topping Oxnard 3-2 at Pershing Park.
The Vaqueros (12-9, 3- WSC North) got on the board first on two nearly identical plays in the bottom of the second inning. Boston Hubbard and Sancier executed a double steal and when the throw from Oxnard catcher Angel Mauricio got away, Hubbard came in to score while Sancier advanced to third. Zack Stockton, who was at the plate when the first run scored, then drew a walk and continued straight to second. Mauricio threw to third in a pickoff attempt, but again the throw got away and Hubbard came in with the second run.
From there, SBCC starter Brett Vansant took control of the game. The sophomore righty took a shutout into the seventh inning before Oxnard (6-14, 1-3 WSC North) loaded the bases with no outs. Vansant did a good job to limit the damage, but Oxnard did manage to tie the game on a sacrifice fly and groundout. After getting two outs, Vansant gave way to reliever Steve Elliot, who promptly got out of a first-and-third situation by picking a runner off of first to end the inning.
The Vaqueros rallied for the game winning run in the bottom of the eighth. Caulfield singled with one out and stole second. Holton was then hit by a pitch to set the stage for Sancier's game-winning single.
Elliot (3-0) pitched a perfect eighth to pick up the win before yeilding to Holton, who came on and picked up his sixth save of the year.
SBCC had 12 hits on the afternoon, with John Jensen, Nicholas Prainito and Caulfield each had two hits and SBCC was again aggressive on the base paths, stealing five bases in six attempts. This was the third straight multi-hit game for Jensen, who is now batting .307 on the season.
Vansant pitched well in recording a no-decision, going 6.2 innings, allowing one earned run on six hits while striking out six without walking a batter. This was the first game all season in which SBCC pitchers did not walk a batter.
SBCC is back in action Saturday against Oxnard. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m. at Oxnard.