OXNARD – The SBCC baseball team needed just one run to defeat Oxnard on the road Thursday, as the Vaquero defense earned its first shutout of the season in a 1-0 win.
Santa Barbara (9-3, 2-0) claimed its fifth straight win, while Oxnard (2-11, 0-2) was handed its fifth straight loss.
Three Vaquero pitchers saw the mound, giving up five total hits, the fewest the team has allowed this season. Charlie Adamson tossed the first two innings, allowing two walks and no hits. Aiden Garza did the brunt of the work, striking out three in six innings. Andrew Guardino earned the save after coming in for the final inning, striking out two and conceding one walk.
The winning run came very early on, as SBCC's first three batters of the game all reached. Shortstop Gavin Haimovitz made it to first on a fielder's choice. First baseman Mark Hernandez hit a double on the next at bat, moving Haimvoitz to third. He would score on a passed ball after that.
The defense allowed the Vaqueros to get the win despite the fact that SBCC finished with a season-low three hits. Second baseman Matty Fung singled in the top of the third and Haimovitz singled in the ninth. Hernandez also added a sacrifice bunt to his name in the final inning.
