SBCC erupted for a season-high 14 runs on a season-high 19 hits Wednesday afternoon in a 14-7 nonconference baseball win over West L.A. in Culver City.
Shortstop Shay Maltese was 2-3 and hit his first homer — a three-run blast in the seventh. Colt McLaughlin was 2-4 with a three-run triple during a five-run uprising in the second.
The Vaqueros (20-13) led 6-1 after two innings and 9-3 after four on the way to their third straight win and ninth in 10 games. Santa Barbara, which has a two-game lead in the WSC North with two to play, reached 20 wins for the fifth straight season.
West L.A., the eighth-place team in the WSC South, lost for the 12th time in 13 games to fall to 8-22-1.
Kylin Turnbull (4-2), the first of five SBCC pitchers, got the win by striking out 10 in five innings. He gave up three runs on five hits with no walks for SBCC, which is ranked 12th in Southern Cal.
Joey Epperson went 3-4, Pat Cavalier had two hits and two RBIs and Andrew Smith was 2-3 with two runs. Cody Giordano pinch hit in the eighth and delivered a booming two-run double.
“All our position guys played and almost everyone got a hit,” said coach Ryan Thompson. “We hit the ball hard. This was the first game we’ve scored in double digits. Cody hit the hardest ball of the day — a 380-foot shot over the center fielder’s head.”
“These games are important for our development and for our RPI ranking. We’re very close to Pierce in the RPI.”
The Vaqueros will travel to Woodland Hills to face L.A. Pierce (19-14) on Thursday in a matchup of the WSC North and South leaders. Pierce, ranked eighth in Southern Cal, is No. 12 in the South RPI ratings while SBCC is No. 13.
SBCC …..……. 150 300 320 — 14 19 3
West L.A. …… 102 000 040 — 7 9 1
Turnbull, Alvarez (6, Brenna (7), Vasquez (8), Perry (9) and Trevino, White (8); Andrews, Heller (4), Corbusier (8) and Gamez. W–Turnbull 4-2. L–Andrews 1-1.
2B–SB: Pecyna, Smith, Giordano. WLA: Munoz, Carter. 3B–SB: McLaughlin. WLA: Seigel. HR–SB: Maltese (1), 7th inn., two on.
