Pirate sophomore Caden Stillwell had a day on Thursday. He went 3-5 at the plate with two doubles and a triple, knocking in three runs while scoring twice. And if that was not enough, he also allowed one hit over eight complete innings on the mound, striking out three to pick up the win in Ventura' s 9-4 victory over Santa Barbara at Pirate Park. Daniel Aguilera was 3-3, including a double, with two walks while batting in one run and scoring twice for VC (12-14, 9-5).
VC took the lead with a three-run second inning. With two outs, Aguilera doubled and Frederico Tiburtini followed with an RBI single. Jacob Tostado and Henry Borjas each walked to load the bases before Tommy Castaneda knocked in a pair of runs with a single for the 3-0 edge.
A Stillwell triple and an Aguilera singles led to another run in the bottom of the fifth to extend the VC lead.
Meanwhile, Stillwell the pitcher faced two batters over the minimum over five innings, giving up a single in the top of the fourth.
The Pirates took full control of the game wit three runs in the bottom of the seventh, once again with two outs. Lucas Martinov doubled and Stillwell came up next with an RBI double. Aguilera drew a base on balls and Tiburtini was hit by a pitch to fill the diamond. All three runners moved forward 90 feet on a wild pitch with Stillwell scoring. Aguilera then scored on another wild pitch and Ventura held a commanding 7-0 advantage.
Stillwell retired the final seven batters in a row to keep the Vaqueros scoreless through eight innings.
Meanwhile, VC added two more runs for good measure in the bottom half of the eighth. Matthew Ramirez drew a one-out walk and Martinov singled with two outs before Stillwell completed his stellar day with a two-RBI double.
The Pirates will complete the three-game set with SBCC with the rubber match at Pershing Park on Saturday Mar. 29 at 1:00 pm.