In a classic pitcher's duel, the Pirate baseball team dropped a 1-0 decision at Cerritos College Tuesday afternoon. VC starter Justin Friedman gave up one unearned run in five innings of work, and the bullpen was superb once again, throwing three scoreless innings. Ventura's offense did not come through, however, as they were limited to just two hits, both in the first inning, against the stingy Falcons.
Friedman threw 96 pitches in his five complete frames with five strikeouts while allowing two hits. His only run allowed was an unearned score by Cerritos on a throwing error with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Kodi Koorndyk, Brent Dickey and Taylor Campos all pitched one inning of scoreless relief, with Koorndyk and Dickey each recording two punch outs.
Both of the Pirate hits came in the first inning. With one out, Rodolfo Aguilar and Blake Chiaramonte had back-to-back singles, but a strikeout and a fly out ended the inning.
Ventura (3-3) had two runners reach base in the top of the sixth inning when Chris McKee reached on an error, stole second, and Chiaramonte walked, but another strikeout ended the rally.
The Pirates are next scheduled to play at Los Angeles Pierce on Thursday Feb. 16 and at Citrus on Saturday Feb. 18.