At the end of a three-day stretch that included a walk-off loss at preseason No. 6 Riverside, the Pirate baseball team dropped a pair of games Friday to No. 1 ranked Orange Coast at Pirate Park. Playing their third and fourth games in three days, VC (8-7) could not muster the offense necessary to defeat the Pirates of the south, falling 10-2 and 6-2. The Pirates shared seven hits among six players n the opener with Gabe Baldovino totaling two, and Junior Sandoval homered in the nightcap.
Ventura 2, Orange Coast 10
The Pirates of the south, the preseason No. 1 pick in Southern California, hung two big innings on the Pirates of the north. OCC scored five runs in both the fourth and fifth frames for a 10-0 lead. Ventura got single scores in the eight and ninth innings to avoid the shutout.
Zane Chittenden picked up the loss, starting and pitching four complete innings. Ryker Kennepohl finished the game with two complete scoreless frames with two strikeouts.
TJ Foreman singled in the eighth, then stole second and third before scoring on Sam Silverya's ground out. In the ninth, Baylor Tovar singled, and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Ventura 2, Orange Coast 6
In the nightcap, Ventura was limited to two hits in their 6-2 defeat.
After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Sandoval tied things up in the second with a solo shot over the fence.
OCC scored three times in the third inning before the Pirates of th north recovered one run in the fourth frame. Brian guy walked and moved to second and third on two wild pitches. One out later, Jacob Harris hit a sacrifice fly to pull VC back to within 4-2.
The score remained until Orange Coast scored twice in the top of the ninth for the final margin.
Zach Rivera gave up four runs in the start for Ventura, picking up the loss, while Noah Bullard tossed three scoreless innings of relief in the middle innings.
Ventura opens Western State Conference North Division play with a road game on Tuesday March 5 against Santa Barbara. Due to impending weather, the game may be moved to VC with the Vaquero's batting as the home team, with first pitch at 2:00 pm.