Nichole Johnson pitched a four-hitter in the WSC Gold opener on Tuesday and Jeananne Ruck tossed a two-hitter, leading Cuesta to a softball sweep over SBCC at Pershing Park. The scores were 6-2 and 9-1 in the nightcap, which was called after five innings by the run-rule.
Cuesta (15-8, 2-0) scored three in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead in the opener. Johnson didn’t give up a run until the seventh, when the Vaqueros (5-4, 0-2) scored twice on an RBI single by Amanda Caras and a fielder’s choice by Dakotah Wilcox that brought in Caras.
Santa Barbara committed six errors in the first game, leading to five unearned runs. After Victoria Lucido’s leadoff double in the first, Johnson retired 18 of the next 19 batters until Brianna Gill reached on an error to open the seventh.
The start of the first game was delayed by an hour due to muddy conditions near the third-base line.
“You have to be able to play catch and you have to be able to respond back and we didn’t do anything today,” said coach Paula Congleton. “The pitching was a little bit off. Celeste (Acosta, SBCC’s starter in both games) didn’t have her best game. We threw Alex Abbott a few innings and she did a good job (allowing one earned run in five innings of relief in both games).
“Cuesta is a good-hitting team but we were so far off of our game, it wouldn’t have mattered who we played. We came out really flat. I think not being able to get on the field yesterday hurt us and the delayed start also hurt a little.”
Ruck had two RBIs in the first game, then tossed a two-hitter with four strikeouts and four walks in the nightcap. Cuesta grabbed a 3-0 lead in the first inning of the second game and Ruck made it 5-0 with a two-run homer in the third.
The Vaqueros made three errors in the fifth inning, leading to three unearned runs and a 9-0 deficit.
SBCC travels to Huntington Beach for the Golden West Invitational this weekend. The Vaqueros will take on Orange Coast (11:30 a.m.) and Chaffey (1:30 p.m.) in pool play on Saturday.
