Monica Salas snapped a 4-4 tie with a sacrifice fly in the seventh on Tuesday and Alyssa Richter added a two-run home run to carry SBCC past Canyons 7-4 in a softball game at Santa Clarita.
Santa Barbara (4-1) is ranked No. 10 in Southern Cal and handed the sixth-ranked Cougars (5-1) their first loss. After each team scored two runs in the first, the Vaqueros went ahead 3-2 in the third and 4-3 in the fifth but the Cougars tied it each time.
Leadoff hitter Sydney Townes went 3-4, scored three runs and raised her average to .500. Richter was 2-3 with three RBIs, belting her second homer of the year. The freshman shortstop has a five-game hitting streak (two hits in each game) and leads the Vaqueros in batting average (.588) with an impressive 1.235 slugging percentage.
Maggie Jackson was 2-3 with an RBI double and a triple as the Vaqueros outhit the Cougars 11-6.
"It was a really good day at the plate," noted coach Paula Congleton. "We kept pressure on them and played great defense."
Madison McNamee pitched the first four innings, giving up three runs on five hits. Calista Wendell (2-0) went the last three and earned the win by holding the Cougars to one run on one hit with two strikeouts and two walks.
The Vaqueros took a 2-0 first-inning lead on a single by Townes, an RBI double to center from Jackson and a run-scoring single to right by Richter. Townes scored on a bases-loaded wild pitch in the third and the Vaqueros went ahead 4-3 in the fifth on a triple by Jackson and a single by Salas.
Canyons tied it 4-4 on a sacrifice fly by Sienna Vannoy in the bottom of the sixth.
Townes doubled to open the seventh and following an error, she scored on Salas' sacrifice fly to center. Richter followed with her two-run blast that made it 7-4.
The Vaqueros will open their 24-game WSC North schedule on Thursday when Oxnard comes to Pershing Park for a 2:30 p.m. contest.
