After building a 7-2 lead through three innings on Thursday, SBCC held on to beat Solano 9-8 in a nonconference baseball game at Pershing Park.
Kylin Turnbull, a freshman left-hander from Hillsboro, Ore., came on with with no outs in the ninth, his team ahead by one and a runner on first base. After throwing the ball away on a pickoff try, he gave up a bunt single, then retired the side 1-2-3 with two strikeouts.
“For Turnbull to maintain his composure after throwing the ball away, that was big,” said coach Teddy Warrecker. Then he goes strikeout, popup, strikeout for his first college save. That was only his third inning of work and he handled himself beautifully.”
The Vaqueros improved to 3-2, despite commiting five errors. Friday’s second game of the three-game series has been moved up to a 10 a.m. doubleheader (hoping to beat the rain) and there will be no game on Saturday.
Tommy White was 3-4 with a two-run homer in the first and and Conner Rehage went 3-3 with a solo blast. Rehage led off the fifth inning with his fourth homer to center field, boosting the lead to 8-4.
Sam Johnston’s two-run double capped off a five-run third inning and Danny Cavaletto had an RBI single and a double in his first start in center field.
Zack Chavez made it 9-5 with an RBI single in the sixth but the Vaqueros didn’t score again, despite getting a runner to third in the seventh and runners on second and third with two out in the eighth. Solano scored three times in the seventh and pulled within 9-8 on Trevor Matern’s two-out RBI single.
“It was a wild finish but it was ‘wild good,’ ” said Warrecker. “We never relinquished the lead. We had our worst defensive inning of the year (giving up three runs in the seventh) with balls getting thrown all over the infield.
“Offense covers up for a multitude of sins. We basically outscored them today.”
The top three batters in the Vaquero order — Chavez, Steven Keller and White — had five hits, five walks and five runs scored while the Falcons’ top four hitters went 1-for-14.
Ryan Gardner came on in the fifth and held Solano to three runs (one earned) in 3 1/3 innings.
Zach Edgington and Joe McGrew are slated to start in Thursday’s doubleheader at 10 a.m.
SBCC 9, SOLANO BEACH 8
SBCC………. 205 011 00x — 9 11 5
Duman, Rogers (3), Worthan (6) and Romero, Mills (7); Selarz, Gardner (5), Turnbull (9) and Keller. W–Gardner 1-0. L–Duman. Save–Turnbull (1).
2B–S: Ard, Krutel, Baptista. SB: Chavez, Johnston, Cavaletto. HR–SB: White (2), 1st inn., one on; Rehage (4), 5th inn., none on
