The Pirate softball team hosted Mt. San Antonio College Saturday on a nearly perfect day for softball at the VC Softball Complex. Anissa Padilla had a solid outing in the circle, striking out five while scattering six hits and yielding three runs, but the Ventura offense could only muster a single score in the 3-1 defeat to the Mounties. Adriana Clemons was 2-4 with a triple and Arianna Rivas had an RBI single in the loss for VC (10-4).
It was a pitchers' duel early until Mt. SAC plated a single run in the top of the third. They followed with two runs in the fifth inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Pirates finally got around the bases in the sixth when Rivas batted in Sophie Dahlstedt, but that was the only offense Ventura could manage. Kayla Garcia also had a pair of hits for the Pirates, who were limited to five hits in the game.
The Pirates open Western State Conference North Division play on Tuesday Feb. 27 at Santa Monica.