Emily LoneTree went 2-3 with a two-run homer and three RBIs on Thursday, leading SBCC to an 11-7 softball win over Moorpark at Pershing Park.
Center fielder Janet Salas was 2-4 with two RBIs for the Vaqueros, who improved to 10-21 and 6-7. They snapped Moorpark's four-game win streak and knocked the Raiders (19-12, 9-4) from second to third place in the WSC North
Bakersfield leads the conference race at 13-0, followed by Ventura (10-3), Moorpark (9-4) and Oxnard (7-6). The Vaqueros are tied for fifth with Santa Monica.
The Vaquero bats have been sizzling in the last six games with 75 runs on 66 hits. That's an average of 12.5 runs and 11 hits per game. They've scored 13, 17 and 11 in the last three games.
"We've found good places to put people in the lineup and it's definitely helped our confidence," said coach Justine Bosio. "Whenever you feel confident in the box for a few games, it becomes contagious."
Santa Barbara's first four hitters – Samantha Yanes, LoneTree, Hannah Weaver and Salas – all had two hits and combined to go 8-14 (.571) with five RBIs, six runs and six walks.
After spotting the visitors a 2-0 lead, the Vaqueros put five on the board in the bottom of the third. Yanes walked to start the rally and scored on LoneTree's home run over the left-field fence. LoneTree, a freshman shortstop from Los Banos, is batting .333 and leads the Vaqueros in homers (4) and slugging percentage (.638).
Weaver followed with a double to left-center and scored on Kayana Diaz's triple. Diaz came home on a wild pitch and Shelby Featherston (2-3, 1 RBI) made it 5-2 by getting aboard on a walk, moving to second on Carson Dunckley's sacrifice bunt, to third on a passed ball and scoring on Paige Powell's bloop single into short right field.
The Raiders tied it 5-5 with three unearned runs in the fourth. The Vaqueros responded with four in the fourth as Yanes and LoneTree opened with a double and a single to left. Yanes scored on a wild pitch and Salas, Featherston and Dunckley delivered RBI singles to boost the lead to 9-5.
Powell (7-18), a freshman left-hander from San Marcos High, tossed all seven innings, allowing 7 runs but only one was earned due to six Vaquero errors. She gave up 11 hits and walked three.
"We've been talking a lot about errors that hurt and errors that don't," said Bosio. "When you make an error and that person ends up scoring, that's an example of an error that hurts. In the latter innings, we shut down the errors and held them scoreless the last two innings.
"We just beat the second-place team and they're No. 23 in RPI in Southern Cal. So that's a very good win."
The Vaqueros travel to Cuesta for a rain makeup on Friday, then host Santa Monica on Tuesday in their final home game at 2:30 p.m.
