Victoria Lucido went 2-3 with a homer and two RBIs on Friday, leading SBCC to an 8-2 softball win over Orange Coast at the Golden West Invitational in Huntington Beach. The Vaqueros dropped their second game to Chaffey 6-2.
Celeste Acosta got the pitching win vs. OCC, tossing a five-hitter with five strikeouts. Lucido, Christal Vierra and Taylor Stanek all went 2-3 to pace the Vaqueros' 11-hit attack. Lucido, a sophomore left-hander, belted her first home run of the year, a two-run shot in the third that boosted the lead to 7-2.
Santa Barbara (6-5) was trailing 2-1 in the sixth inning of the second game when two errors and a single allowed Chaffey to load the bases. Sarah Garcia hit a grand slam to left, stretching the lead to 6-1.
Acosta gave up six hits and struck out six in the second game. Vania Rivera held the Vaqueros to three hits.
"We have to figure out how to play both ends of a doubleheader," said SBCC coach Paula Congleton. "We had a nice win in the first game, then we come out extremely flat 15 minutes later. It's not a physical problem, it's 100 percent mental."
SBCC finished second in its pool and will take on Southwestern at 2 p.m. on Saturday. A win would move the Vaqueros into Sunday's semifinals at 10 a.m. and a loss would force them to play a final elimination game on Saturday at 6 p.m.
Chaffey ……......… 000 114 0 – 6 6 0
SBCC …….…..….... 010 001 0 – 2 3 3
Rivera and Valdez; Acosta and Wilcox. W--Rivera. L--Acosta 6-5.
HR—C: Leon, 4th inn., none on; Garcia, 6th inn., three on.
