The Pirate baseball team opened Western State Conference play in Santa Maria Saturday, falling at Allan Hancock College 5-1. Dylan Colman had a pair of hits for VC (1-7) while Carlos Sanchez doubled and walked. Adisson Pelupessy doubled and scored the Pirates' lone run.
Two walks and a two-out error led the the Bulldogs' first run in the bottom of the third inning, and AHC scored three times on four hits in the fourth. They added an insurance run in the eighth before VC scored once in the top of the ninth.
Jackson Simonsgaard had a solid day on the mound, throwing seven innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on four hits.
The Pirates will close the two-game set with the Bulldogs on Tuesday Feb. 17 at 2:00 pm at Pirate Park on the Ventura College campus.