Cuesta Baseball earned a split in their four-game season series against local rival Allan Hancock with a victory, 7-6 over the Bulldogs. The Cougars jumped out early with three runs in the 2nd inning, which were keyed by Nathan Reese's two-RBI Triple and his eventual run three batters later. Cuesta held a five-run lead going into the 7th inning, 7-2, but the Bulldogs rallied for four runs on three hits to pull within one, just before the stretch. Cuesta Sophomore Woody Brennan allowed all three runners he inherited from Starter Andrew Seibert to score but was still able to pick up the Save and preserve Seibert's team-leading 7th victory after retiring seven of the last nine batters he faced. The Cougars are currently 27-10 overall and 15-6 against the WSC-North.
The Cougars continue to endure a tough week with five Western State Conference games scheduled to be settled over the duration. The Cougars entered this week riding a 16-game winning streak but slipped out of the top of the standings after a slow start. They opened the week dropping a pair of 8-7 losses to Santa Barbara and Ventura, while also completing and losing March 4th's suspended game to the Pirates, 7-6, in the 13th inning. Today, Cuesta recovered from their mini-slump and moved back into a tie for 2nd place and within 1.5 games of their 4th consecutive WSC Crown. Cuesta is currently ranked 7th in the CCCAA Southern California Region, while WSC rivals Santa Barbara and Allan Hancock warrant only the 15th and 17th spots, respectively. Today's victory moved the Cougars into a tie for 2nd place with the rival Bulldogs and within 1.5 games of current leader Santa Barbara, with three games left in the regular season schedule. The Cougars travel to Woodland Hills tomorrow (1 PM) to face Los Angeles Pierce. The face Moorpark and Oxnard next week, respectively, at Moorpark on Tuesday (2:30) and in SLO on Friday (2:30).
