Brendan Jenkins threw a three-hit shutout on Thursday, leading the Cuesta baseball team to a 3-0 win over SBCC in San Luis Obispo.
Jenkins, a 6-4, 230-pound freshman right-hander, scattered three singles and struck out five with two walks. Vaquero starter Justin Bruce (2-1) hurled six strong innings, allowing two runs on 10 hits, but suffered his first loss.
The Vaqueros, ranked fourth in Southern Cal, were shut out for the first time this season and fell out of first place in the WSC North. Santa Barbara (11-3, 4-2) trails No. 3 Oxnard (3-1) by percentage points.
Shortstop Steven Pico went 4-4 with two RBIs for the Cougars (4-9, 2-2), who were blanked 4-0 by the Vaqueros on Tuesday when Sean Barry tossed a two-hitter at Pershing Park.
Trailing 1-0 in the fourth, Matt Henderson walked, stole second and went to third on a groundout. The inning ended when James Brakka lined out to center. The Cougars made it 2-0 in the bottom of the fourth on Pico’s second RBI single.
SBCC has byes on Saturday and Tuesday, then travels to No. 16 L.A. Pierce for a 2 p.m. game on Thursday, March 5 in Woodland Hills.
