The Pirate baseball team was limited to four hits on Friday in their 5-1 loss to Moorpark at Pirate Park. Reiss Calvin, Andrew Savage, Aaron McLeod and Gage Allen all delivered singles for VC (6-10, 2-2), but they could not string any together in the setback. Hunter Jones had a solid five innings on the mound, giving up three runs, none of them earned, limiting the Raiders to four hits. Wilson Spinks followed with two shutout frames, but Ventura could not muster the offense to pull out a win.
Jones struck out three through the first two innings, as the game remained 0-0 early. Three Pirate errors in the top of the third inning led to three Moorpark runs, however, as VC continued to struggle to get anything going at the plate.
Jones rebounded to pitch two more scoreless frames, and Spinks came on in the sixth to continue the strong VC pitching effort with two scoreless innings.
VC had a solid chance to score in the fourth inning. Connor Hickey reached base on an error with one out, then stole second. Mason Reid followed with a walk, but two Pirate batters could not produce the needed base hit.
Savage hit a one-out single in the seventh, moving to second one out later when Caden Stillwell was hit by a pitch, but once again VC failed to cash in the runner in scoring position.
After the Raiders plated two insurance ruins in the top of the ninth inning, VC finally got on the board. With one out, Savage was hit by a pitch, and was replaced by pinch runner Tanner Rowe, who stole second before McLeod had a pinch hit single. Stillwell reached base on a fielder's choice that moved Rowe to third, and Rose scored on an error on as Stillwell stole second.
Ventura next has back-to-back trips to San Luis Obispo on Saturday and Monday, March 4 and 6, to take on Cuesta College. They return home to play Oxnard on Tuesday March 7.