SBCC was seeded No. 7 for the Southern Cal Regional baseball playoffs and will play host to No. 10 Riverside on Friday at Pershing Park.
Game 1 is set for Friday at 2 p.m. The second game is slated for 11 a.m. on Saturday, followed by a third game, 30 minutes later, if necessary. Regional bracket available at:
The Vaqueros (22-14) won 10 of their last 11 conference games to finish 15-5 and claim their first WSC North title in four years. Riverside (21-15), a four-time state champion, placed third in the Orange Empire League with a 13-8 mark.
SBCC has one of the top pitching staffs in the state with a 2.93 ERA and a state-best 312 strikeouts. The Vaqueros averaged 4.9 runs and allowed 3.7 in conference play. The Tigers, who have a team batting average of .289, scored 8.5 runs and gave up 6.4.
Santa Barbara is 8-2 in its last 10 games while the Tigers are 5-5.
Riverside, coached by Dennis Rogers, has won four of the last 11 state titles (2000, ‘01, ‘02, ‘07). The Vaqueros are making their first Regional appearance since 2008.
Rio Hondo (34-2) was seeded first for the Regional, followed by Chaffey and Santa Ana. The winners of the eight first-round series will advance to a pair of four-team Super Regionals on May 13-15.
