Lucas Benenati struck out five batters in 6 2/3 innings of work.
Lucas Benenati gave SBCC just what it needed on Saturday when the Vaqueros played their third baseball game in as many days. The freshman right-hander from Santa Barbara High tossed 6 2/3 innings of 1-run ball in a 9-4 victory over Oxnard at Pershing Park.
The Vaqueros (11-12, 5-4) won their second straight to move into a three-way tie for second in the WSC North. Cuesta leads at 7-1, followed by SBCC, Ventura and Moorpark at 5-4.
Stephen Foote started for Santa Barbara and gave up a leadoff homer to Westley Wright. The Condors (7-15, 2-7) had a 3-1 lead when Benenati came on with two outs in the second inning. Catcher Colin Eaton threw out a runner trying to steal and Benenati fanned Jordan Yallen to end the inning.
“I just threw strikes,” said Benenati. “I was trying to throw competitive strikes, make them chase and get ground balls. Let the defense work for me.”
Benenati held Oxnard to one unearned run on two hits. Eleven of his 19 outs came on grounders. He struck out five and walked one, retiring the side in order in the third, sixth and eighth.
“My fastball, slider and changeup were all working,” said Benenati.
The Vaqueros went ahead 4-3 with three runs in the bottom of the second.
Matt Lloyd had an RBI single and Joey Gonzalez drove in two with a two-out single to left. The Vaqueros boosted the lead to 8-3 with four in the fourth. Eli Michaels (2-5, 2 runs) had an RBI single and Brandon Laubhan drove in two with a single to center.
Michaels robbed Daniel Lerma of a home run leading off the second inning. He made a leaping grab in front of the temporary fence in left field and then tumbled through the 4-foot mesh netting.
“Lucas did a great job,” said coach Jeff Walker. “We had a four-game week, so we were kind of going with Johnny Whole-staff. He came in, stopped them and let us take the lead.
“That was a huge lift for us. He’s pitched well all season.”
Shane Turner pitched the ninth inning and sandwiched two strikeouts around a walk. The game ended on a grounder to third baseman Mark Jebbia.
Matt Lloyd went 2-4 for the Vaqueros, who’ve scored 31 runs over the last three days while going 2-1. They were 5-for-5 on stolen bases on Saturday.
“Guys are swinging the bat well, we got some big two-out hits,” said Walker. “Colin Eaton had a key two-out RBI hit in the seventh to kind of put them away. Guys are seeing the ball right now and hopefully, we’ll continue that momentum.”
SBCC starts a six-game road trip on Tuesday with a 2:30 p.m. game at Oxnard.
LINE SCORE:
Oxnard …….. 210 010 000 — 4 6 4
SBCC ………. 130 400 10x — 9 9 1
Conard, Grajeda (2), Navarro (4), Diaz (8) and Lerma; Foote, Benenati (2), Turner (9) and Eaton. W–Benenati 1-1. L–Conard 0-4.
2B–SB: Epperson. HR–O: Wright (3), 1st inn., none on.
