The Pirates baseball team rallied for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, seven of which were scored with two outs, and the Pirates defeated Oxnard 10-6 Thursday afternoon at Pirate Park. Shane Gipson had three hits with two runs batted in and a run scored to lead the 13-hit Pirate offensive attack. Dayton Provost had a pair of hits with two RBI and a run scored for VC (8-10, 1-1). Taylor Goffena made the start, giving up three runs in four innings, and Jackson Hokuf pitched .2 of an inning and picked up the win.
Ventura trailed 2-0 after the top of the third inning, scoring both runs on a controversial safe call at second base with the bases loaded and two outs. VC, however, seemed unfased, picking up two runs in the bottom half of the frame to tie the score. Provost singled in Tommy Gibbons-Matsuyama, then on the next play, stole second, forcing an error on the Condors which allowed Steele Ledford to score from third.
The Condors then scored one run in the fourth, one run in the seventh, and two more in the eighth to take a 6-2 lead.
Ventura responded with eight runs in the bottom of the eighth to turn things around. After a lead-off out, Fabian De La Barcena singled, Shane Gipson doubled, then Sam Langler pinch hit and reached base on an error, scoring De La Barcena. Ethan Balolong-Reyes pinch ran for Langler, then stole second before a groundout to third base resulted in the second out of the inning. Gibbons-Matsuyama then singled in Gipson, TJ Foreman pinch hit and singled to score Balolong-Reyes, and Provost singled to score Gibbons-Matsuyama. AJ Medrano then walked to load the bases, Darnell Prince pinch hit and walked in a run, De La Barcena took a hit by pitch for another score, and Gipson followed with a two-RBI single.
Sal Delgado pitched a perfect ninth inning to shut the door on the Condors.
The Pirates will travel to Moorpark College on Friday March 9 for a 2:00 pm contest with the Raiders. The game was originally scheduled for March 10, but was moved up one day due to rain concerns.