SBCC loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the ninth in Thursday’s WSC North baseball game and beat Ventura 5-4 on a walk-off wild pitch.
Shortstop Matt Henderson opened the ninth with an infield single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Matt Gimenez. Jack Gregson reached on an error and Cameron Jones walked to load the bases.
Nathan Coakley replaced Steven Martinez on the mound and his fifth pitch to Dallas Bacon was a wild pitch that scored Henderson.
The Vaqueros improved to 13-3 on the year and 2-0 in conference while the Pirates (4-10, 0-2) dropped their eighth straight.
The Vaqueros erased a 2-0 deficit by scoring four times in the seventh.
“Everyone was hitting the ball hard for us and they started falling late in the game,” said Bacon. “We were calm and collected. When the key moments came, we were ready.”
Ventura left-hander Tyler Watson stymied the Vaqueros for six innings, holding them scoreless on just one hit. Connor McManigal singled in the second but was erased by a double play.
The Pirates took a 1-0 lead on Harrison Crawford’s RBI groundout in the first and added another run in the fourth on David Newland’s single that scored Brian Magana.
SBCC’s offense came alive with two outs in the seventh. Patrick O’Brien walked, Henderson reached on an error and Ryan Crowe, the first of four straight pinch hitters, singled to right to load the bases.
Gregson was hit by a pitch, forcing in O’Brien with the Vaqueros’ first run. Pinch-hitter James Hill followed with an RBI single to left to force a pitching change. Bacon’s infield hit scored Crowe and Gregson came home on a wild pitch to make it 4-2 Vaqueros.
“We got new energy and better energy in the seventh,” said coach Jeff Walker. “We have good depth so we can run some guys up there.”
Watson surrendered four runs on four hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked four. SBCC starter Tyler Gilbert gave up four runs on 10 hits in 7 1/3 innings. He got 18 of his 22 outs on ground balls.
The Pirates tied the game at 4-4 in the eighth on an RBI triple by pinch-hitter Garrett Serino and a run-scoring single by Michael Volaski.
“They (Ventura) did a good job of coming back and tying it,” said Walker. “That’s my fault, my starting pitcher shouldn’t have still been out there when that happened. I take the blame on that one.”
Kit Larson came on with a runner on first and two outs in the eighth and promptly got two strikeouts to end the threat.
SBCC hosts Hancock on Saturday at 1 p.m.
