Lucas Martin tossed a four-hitter and Cuesta blanked SBCC 4-0 on Tuesday in a first-place baseball showdown at Pershing Park.
The Vaqueros (17-14, 9-6 WSC North) only had six baserunners the entire game. Two of the hits were infield singles and two others were erased trying for an extra base.
“Tip your cap to their guy (Martin),” said SBCC coach Jeff Walker. “He was pitching on fumes but he competed. He was pitching on four days rest and he was out of gas by the fourth inning. But he competed and the game rewarded him and his team.”
Martin, a 5-8 freshman left-hander, struck out seven and walked one while pitching his second straight complete game and fifth of the year. Connor Detko (2-7) pitched into the ninth for the Vaqueros, giving up four runs (two earned) on 10 hits with two strikeouts and no walks.
Spencer Ruggles went 3-4 and Travis Beck was 2-5 with two RBIs for the Cougars (16-15, 10-5), who won for the sixth straight time to take over sole possession of first with five games remaining.
“We only got the leadoff guy on once the whole game, in the second inning,” noted Walker. “We couldn’t get our momentum going.”
The Vaqueros, who entered Tuesday as the top-hitting team in WSC play with a .311 average, were shut out for the second time this year and first time in conference.
Cleanup hitter Tony Simon went 0-2 and his 25-game hitting streak came to an end.
Zach Zehner singled in the first and was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. With one out in the fifth, Mark Jebbia doubled to the deepest part of the park in right-center but was erased at third on a nice relay by second baseman Marco Murillo.
“Both of those were bang-bang plays and could have gone either way,” said Walker. “Detko did his job and (Ryan) Massengale did his job but they got a bloop hit.
“They’re a confident team and they’re playing well. When you’re playing well, things tend to go your way.”
Massengale entered with one out in the ninth and runners on first and second. After a double steal forced the Vaqueros to bring the infield in, Beck blooped a single over the first baseman’s head to score two and make it 4-0.
The same teams will clash on Thursday in San Luis Obispo with the first pitch at 2:30 p.m.
Cuesta ….….. 010 100 002 — 4 11 1
SBCC …..…… 000 000 000 — 0 4 3
