Six was the magic number for the SBCC softball team on a cloudy Saturday at Pershing Park. The Vaqueros routed El Camino 9-1 in six innings and then used a three-run sixth to rally past Pasadena 3-2.
SBCC (19-2) won for the sixth straight time and improved to 18-1 in its last 19 games. The Vaqueros are a perfect 7-0 at home.
Lisa Zeitlin went 3-3 with three RBIs, two runs and two stolen bases in the opener while Jazmyne Holmes was 2-3 with two doubles and an RBI. They combined for seven RBIs in the twinbill.
Kailey Snyder (17-2) pitched a five-hitter in the second game with 11 strikeouts and no walks. She relieved Nicole Adair in the fourth inning of the opener with a 3-1 lead and retired the last nine Warriors in order for her first save. After El Camino’s Kendall Roles led off the game with a single, Adair and Snyder tossed no-hit ball the rest of the way.
Pasadena scored an unearned run in the first and led 1-0 through five innings. The Vaqueros managed just two hits off Adrianna Stevens in the first five frames.
Megan Martin took the mound in the bottom of the sixth and lasted just three batters. After walks to Joan Cannon and Adair, Stevens returned to the mound. She got the second out and then walked Laura Cannon intentionally to load the bases.
Holmes lined a two-run single over the shortstop to put the Vaqueros on top 2-1. Zeitlin followed with an RBI single up the middle to make it 3-1.
“They walked the batter in front of me twice today, although the first wasn’t intentional,” said Holmes, a sophomore first baseman from Dos Pueblos High. “I was ticked when they walked me. The best way to get them back was to drive in two runs.”
Pasadena (6-24) got a single and double to open the seventh and cut the deficit to 3-2 on an infield hit by Jessica Chavez. Denise Villalobos popped up a bunt and Holmes made a diving catch, then fired to third for a double play. Zeitlin got the final out on a grounder to third.
“I wasn’t expecting her to bunt but when she did, I crashed hard and thank goodness Lisa went back to third (to take the throw),” said Holmes.
In the opener, Santa Barbara scored two in the fifth and four more in the sixth to finish off El Camino. Zeitlin had a run-scoring double in the fifth and a two-run single in the sixth that boosted the lead to eight runs, ending the nonconference game on the mercy rule.
Sara Gazzaniga, who played for SBCC last year, was the starting pitcher for El Camino. She gave up seven runs while pitching the first two innings and the last two.
SBCC has outscored its opponents 49-10 during the six-game win streak.
“We’ve been hitting well but we also struggled the first time we played Pasadena (in a 9-1 win),” said coach Paula Congleton. “We couldn’t get past that slow pitching. I was surprised their coach took their starter out (to start the sixth).”
Saturday’s twinbill was the first of three doubleheaders in six days for the Vaqueros, who travel to San Luis Obispo on Tuesday to take on Cuesta at 1 p.m.
First Game (6 inn.)
El Camino ……. 001 000 — 1 1 2
SBCC ….…….… 012 024 — 9 9 1
Gazzaniga, Santacruz (3), Gazzaniga (5) and Redman; Snyder and Bolanos. W–Adair 2-0. L–Gazzaniga. S–Snyder 1.
2B–SB: Holmes 2, Zeitlin.
Second Game
Pasadena ……. 100 000 1 — 2 5 1
SBCC …………. 000 003 x — 3 4 2
Stevens, Martin (6), Stevens (6) and Hanna; Snyder and Bolanos. W–Snyder 17-2. L–Stevens.
2B–P: Lugo.
