Tyler Gilbert pitched three-hit ball for eight innings and struck out 12 on Saturday afternoon, leading SBCC to a 5-2 baseball victory over Hancock at Pershing Park.
Gilbert, a 6-3 left-hander from Santa Cruz, helped the Vaqueros (7-9, 1-2 WSC North) snap a five-game losing streak. He gave up two runs on three hits with 12 strikeouts and one walk.
SBCC’s Tyler Gilbert struck out 12 and allowed on three hits in eight innings against Hancock. (Jeanise Eaton photo)
?I felt great in the first eight innings, then my arm started getting a little tired,? said Gilbert. ?I felt confident with all my pitches until the eighth.?
Shortstop Steven Reveles led the Vaquero offense, going 2-4 with two RBIs and two stolen bases. Tony Simon was also 2-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.
The Vaqueros took a 3-0 lead in the third on an RBI single to center by Reveles and a two-run double down the left-field line by Simon. Reveles had another RBI hit in the fourth, scoring Colby Taylor, who had tripled.
In the sixth, Payton Milone drove in a run to make it 5-0 with a two-out, bases-loaded fielder?s choice.
?That was an outstanding effort by Tyler, his best of the year,? said coach Jeff Walker. ?And he did that against a pretty hot and confident team. He set the tone for us early and kept them off the scoreboard until we scored.
?The key was our timely hitting. We had several good two-out RBIs and that?s what we?ve been lacking lately.?
Zach Zehner returned to right field after missing two games with an injury and had his 10-game hit streak snapped, despite a couple of hard-hit balls.
Gilbert struck out the side in the first and seventh innings and fanned eight of the nine batters at least once. He didn?t walk anyone until the eighth when the Bulldogs (8-8, 2-1) scored both their runs on a walk, a hit batter and a two-run single by Ryan Welker.
Cody Van Aken pitched the ninth for his first save.
SBCC travels to Santa Maria to take on Hancock on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Hancock ??… 000 000 020 — 2 3 1
SBCC ???…. 003 101 00x — 5 7 2
Hernandez, Pino (5), Girard (6), St. Laurent (7) and Welker; Gilbert, Van Aken (9) and Crowe. W–Gilbert 3-1. L–Hernandez 1-2. Save–Van Aken 1.
2B–SB: Simon 2. 3B–SB: Taylor.
