Ledesma, Smutny pace Vaqueros in 7-2 victory

Steven Ledesma pitched eight solid innings and Chris Smutny went 2-3 with three RBIs on Tuesday, guiding SBCC to a 7-2 WSC North baseball win over L.A. Pierce at Pershing Park.

Ledesma (6-3) allowed two runs (none earned) on seven hits with eight strikeouts and two walks. The 6-4 sophomore from Ventura recently signed to play for UCSB. He's No. 2 in the state in strikeouts with 86.

"Another great outing by Steven, he kept them off the board until we scored," said SBCC coach Jeff Walker. "Our defense let him down a little later in the game but we held them to one run each time.

"This was a good bounceback win after last week's loss (to Cuesta)."

The second-place Vaqueros (15-16, 12-7) took a 2-0 lead in the third on Smutny's two-out single to left that scored Tyler Rosen. Smutny took second on the throw home and scored when the catcher overthrew the second baseman for a two-base error.

SBCC made it 5-0 with three runs in the fourth. Nicolas Bereaud led off with a single, was sacrificed to second and scored on a two-out single by Wesley Ghan-Gibson. Three batters later, Smutny delivered a two-run single to left to bring in a pair of unearned runs.

"Obviously, we were facing a slow pitcher today and they were shading for us to pull the ball," said Smutny, a sophomore third baseman from Fresno. "I was trying to go back up the middle and ended up getting both hits to left.

"Jake Gagain and I always talk about if we can get four hits between us, we're going to set the table and probably win the game."

Gagain, the No. 3 hitter, went 2-4 and scored the Vaqueros' sixth run in the seventh when he singled up the middle, went to second and third on a wild pitch and groundout, then scored on another wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Jackson Wittwer brought in Andrew Cosgove with the final run on a safety squeeze in the eighth.

The Brahmas (8-25, 4-17) were held to seven hits and commited four errors, leading to three unearned runs.

Cuesta beat Ventura 5-1 on Tuesday and the Cougars lead the WSC North at 14-5 with five games remaining. The Vaqueros are second at 12-7, two games ahead of Ventura (10-9).

"The playoff scenario is pretty clear cut," Walker said. "The top two teams in our conference will get automatic bids with the top team hosting (in the opening Regional series) and the second-place team probably on the road."

SBCC travels to L.A. Pierce on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.