By Jimmy Friery
SANTA BARBARA, CA – The Santa Barbara City College Baseball team finished off their 3-game sweep of Moorpark on Friday, winning an 8-0 shutout.
The win—the third in 3 days over Moorpark—gives the Vaqueros a 14-4 conference record. SBCC sits a half-game behind Cuesta for the top spot in the standings, with a huge home matchup against them this upcoming Tuesday.
Bradley Johnson came into the game with a 3.05 ERA, and he would finish with that number well below 3. After 5 scoreless innings, it decreased to 2.72, good for 3rd among all qualified conference pitchers. He allowed 6 hits—all singles—and worked around 3 consecutive hit by pitches in the 2nd inning to preserve the shutout.
Daniel Ghiorso homered as the first Vaquero batter of the game, pulling a high drive down the left field line, and SBCC led the entirety of the game from there. 2 more runs came across in the 1st thanks to an error and a fielder's choice.
In the 4th, Parker Hellekson's sacrifice fly scored Sebastian Arguelles, who reached by hustling out an infield single.
Ghiorso singled to left to score Ethan Watson in the 6th, and did the same exact thing in the 7th. Ethan Rodriguez drove Ghiorso home after his 6th inning single and later scored on a throwing error.
The 8-0 score was finalized by 4 unblemished innings by the Vaqueros bullpen. Jordan Rico, Jake Thrift, and Halen Jaden Guerrero allowed just 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 6 between them.
Ghiorso's 3 for 5 day catapults his batting average to a blistering .407 this season, 2nd among all qualified conference hitters. Rodriguez also had a trio of hits in his 3 for 4 day, and Presley Kosciusko reached 4 times via 2 hits and 2 walks.
The Vaqueros look ahead to the biggest game of the season to-date. SBCC (14-4) hosts Cuesta (14-3) on Tuesday in a battle of the WSC-North's best. The winner will have sole possession of the conference lead with one last game against each conference team remaining.
