The VC baseball team dropped the rubber game of a three-game set against Santa Barbara 8-3 Saturday afternoon at Pershing Park. VC gave up a two-run home run in the bottom of the first and were playing catch-up the rest of the day against the Vaqueros. Jacob Harris had three hits on the day for Ventura (7-12, 2-7), including a double and a triple, and Jacob Martinez belted out a single and a double with a run scored and one run batted in.
After giving up the early lead, the Pirates got one run back in the top of the second inning. Omar Gastelum singled to left field followed by Harris' double to the gap in right center. Riley Langerman then grounded out to the shortstop to score Gastelum to make the score 2-1.
SBCC scored two more runs in the bottom of the third before VC plated another score in the fifth. Martinez led off with a double to centerfield, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Adrian Sandoval the grounded out to second to score the run.
The Vaqueros countered with two more runs in the bottom half of the frame, and added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth.
Ventura tried to rally in the ninth inning. Jesus Rodarte had a pinch hit single, and was replaced by Anthony Chavez as a pinch runner. One out later Langerman singled to the right side, and Martinez followed with a single to left to score Chavez. Sandoval then walked to load the bases, but a double play ended the Pirate rally and the game with SBCC winning 8-3.
The Pirates have made some schedule changes on next week's three-game set with Rio Hondo to stay ahead of potential weather issues. VC will now host the Roadrunners for a 2:00 pm game on Monday March 9 before traveling to Whittier to complete the set on Thursday and Saturday, March 12 and 14.