SBCC left-hander Tyler Gilbert pitched three-hit ball for 6 2/3 innings on Thursday and Stephen Foote finished the job with scoreless relief in a 2-0 win over Glendale at Pershing Park.
Gilbert retired the first 11 batters and finished with eight strikeouts and just one walk to help Santa Barbara (13-12) win a battle of WSC division leaders and the battle of the Vaqueros (both teams have the same nickname).
Glendale, the No. 2-ranked squad in Southern California, fell to 17-8 with its third straight loss. The WSC South leaders scored just one run in the last three days and were shut out twice by SBCC.
“Everything was working, I felt confident with every pitch I had,” said Gilbert, a 6-3 freshman from Santa Cruz. “It was nice to get two runs in the first inning.”
The hometown Vaqueros struck early when Brett Sesma singled, stole second and scored on Zach Zehner’s double that landed just inside the right-field line. Tyler Sharp added an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.
Gilbert struck out eight and walked just one. Foote gave up only one hit in 2 1/3 innings of relief with three strikeouts. They combined to fan the first two Glendale batters seven times.
Gilbert lowered his ERA to 1.72 and opponents are batting just .168 against him.
Tony Simon extended his hitting streak to 20 games by beating out a grounder to shortstop in the third. SBCC stranded 12 runners, leaving the bases loaded in the fourth and two runners in the fifth and seventh.
“We had two night games the last two nights and got back pretty late last night,” said coach Jeff Walker. “To get that kind of effort from Tyler was outstanding. We feel confident every time he takes the mound. Our guys like playing behind him, they play hard behind him and it showed.
“He commanded the strike zone and our defense was outstanding the whole game. (Glendale) is a good team with good pitching so we knew runs would be at a premium.”
Santa Barbara stole six bases, boosting its state-leading total to 78. Steven Reveles had one steal and he’s No. 1 in the state with 25.
Tei Vanderford suffered the loss, giving up two runs on six hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked four.
“Our conference is tough and it was nice to beat a quality team like Glendale twice in three days,” Walker added. “This should give us confidence that we can play with anybody in the state.”
The Vaqueros are off until Thursday, April 4 when they travel to L.A. Pierce.
BOX SCORE
Glendale ……… 000 000 000 — 0 4 1
SBCC ……….… 200 000 000 — 2 7 0
Vanderford, Leach (6), Kim (8) and Whitmer; Gilbert, Foote (7) and Dinges. W–Gilbert 6-1. L–Vanderford 4-2. Save–Foote 3.
2B–SB: Zehner, Dinges.
