The Ventura College softball team needs to finish the season with a strong run and picked up a pair of wins over Santa Barbara City to stay in the playoff hunt. In the opener the Pirates used a dominant pitching performance for a 4-0 win. Then in the second part of the twin bill the VC bats carried them to a win. Julia Garcia rapped out five hits on the day while Julianne Abeloe and Lindsey Dietz each had four hits.
Ventura 4 Santa Barbara 0
Ventura took an early 1-0 advantage after one inning which proved to be enough as Olivia Hernandez threw a shut out with VC putting up three more runs for the win. Ventura collected eight total hits in the game topped by Abeloe, Dietz and Garcia each with two hits a piece. Abeloe doubled, Dietz tripled and drove in one run while Garcia had a SAC fly for an RBI.
Hernandez allowed eight hits in the game, but stymied the Vaqueros attack with runners on base for the complete game win. It set up VC for an opportunity to sweep the doubleheader and gain ground in the playoff race.
Ventura 9 Santa Barbara 1
In a run rule shortened five inning win the Pirates used a dominant pitching performance and an electric offense to sweep the conference doubleheader. VC knocked out a team total of 15 hits and plated runs in the first, second and fifth innings. Ventura put up two in the first and those runs again proved to be enough, but the Pirate offense was not done with four in the second and three more in the fifth on a walkoff triple from Abeloe.
Garcia picked up three more hits for VC including a double and a triple. Abeloe had two triples and two RBI. Dietz had two hits and an RBI. Marina Coffin picked up two hits and two RBI, as did Justine De La Rosa and Olivia Hernandez. Finally, Mariah Gamboa picked up two hits of her own.
Ventura (23-13, 10-5) remains in the thick of the Western State Conference playoff with just three games left. They will host Los Angeles Pierce on Thursday Apr. 21 for a 2:30 pm game and then travel to Cuesta on Tuesday Apr. 26 for their final two games of the regular season with a doubleheader against the Cougars set for a 1:00 pm start to game one.