SBCC led 2-0 after two innings on Thursday at Irvine Valley but the Lasers came back and won it 3-2 on an unearned run with one out in the bottom of the ninth.
Joey Epperson went 2-3 for the Vaqueros (3-7). Eli Michaels had an RBI single in the first and Shay Maltese delivered an RBI double in the second.
Irvine Valley (8-4) got single runs in the third and seventh to tie it. In the ninth, Anthony Almeida reached on an infield error and pinch-runner Robert Dey was sacrificed to second. Leadoff hitter Bryce Hara stroked a single to center for his third hit and Cody Giordano made a strong one-hop throw to the plate but the ball was dropped, allowing Dey to score the winning run.
Two days earlier, SBCC beat Long Beach 4-3 on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth.
“I should have walked that guy in the ninth but we let him hit,” said SBCC coach Ryan Thompson. “Cody made a great throw to the plate. In the seventh, they called a balk on us that brought in the tying run.”
Kylin Turnbull pitched six-plus innings for SBCC, allowing two runs (one earned) with five strikeouts and one walk. Two Irvine pitchers held the Vaqueros to six hits.
“We had first and third in the sixth and we ground into a double play on a 3-0 count,” Thompson added. “We have to do better in those situations.”
The Vaqueros’ game on Friday at Cypress has been moved to 1 p.m. in an effort to avoid a potential rainstorm.
SBCC …………… 110 000 000 — 2 6 3
Irvine Valley ……. 001 000 101 — 3 9 4
Turnbull, Gunderson (7) and Trevino, White (7); Levine, Cates (8) and Almeida. W–Cates. L–Gunderson 1-2.
2B–SB: Maltese.
