MOORPARK – The SBCC baseball team improved to 2-0 in extra inning games this season on Thursday, playing 10 innings against LA Pierce at Moorpark College in a 4-3 win.
The Vaqueros (14-10, 7-4) snapped a three-game losing streak two days after being held scoreless against the Brahmas (6-17, 3-8) in Santa Barbara.
For the second time this month, SBCC reached double-figures in the hit department. Gabe Baldavino, Tyler Imbach and Caiden Matheny all tallied two-hit days.
Santa Barbara was consistent to open the day, scoring once in each of the first three innings. Baldavino opened the game up with a triple and scored immediately after on a sacrifice fly by Andrew McKenna.
Imbach scored in the second inning to make it 2-0, after initially walking before a Hunter Call sacrifice fly brought him home from third. In the third, Baldavino led off with a single and later scored on a Mark Hernandez RBI single.
Both teams' offenses went quiet from there, as neither team would tally more than a single hit in any of the next four innings.
LA Pierce burst back into the game in the bottom of the seventh. The Brahmas scored three runs – all with two outs on the board – to tie the game at 3-3.
In the eighth, the Vaqueros found themselves backed into a corner. Pitcher Seth White entered the game with runners on first and second and picked up a fly out on the first batter he faced. A Brahma singled would load the bases, but SBCC managed to finish the inning unscathed, picking up a ground out for the final out.
It was Santa Barbara's turn to come up short in the top of the ninth, as a single from McKenna moved Baldavino up to second before Pierce got the final out.
The Vaqueros wouldn't let that happen again in the 10th. After fly outs on the first two at bats, Matheny singled and Justin Deal earned a walk. Gavin Haimovitz entered as a pinch hitter and delivered the eventual game-winning RBI single as Matheny made his way home from second.
Jake McBride and Noah Bullard both saw the mound in the bottom of the 10th. Bullard was able to pitch for the final two outs as the Bulls left two runners on base.
