RIDGECREST – The SBCC baseball team scored half of its runs over the final two innings at Cerro Coso on Thursday, erasing an eighth inning deficit to take a 10-8 win, its second straight on the road.
The Vaqueros improved to 6-3 overall with their third win in four tries. They ended a three-game win streak for the Coyotes, who fall to an 8-4 mark.
Trailing 6-5 heading into the top of the eighth, SBCC opened the inning with three straight successful at bats. Center fielder Caiden Matheny led off with a walk, followed by the Vaqueros' only home run of the day, a two-run blast by catcher Andrew McKenna to put his team up 7-6.
Isaiah Fleming entered as a pinch runner for Owen Crevelt, who followed McKenna's homer with a single. Fleming would double SBCC's lead on a sacrifice fly to center by left fielder Carson Cahoy.
Left hander Aiden Garza handled the bulk of the work at pitcher, tossing three perfect innings. He closed his day by picking up outs on all three of Cerro Coso's batters in the bottom of the eighth.
SBCC gained some helpful separation by adding two more runs in the top of the ninth. A leadoff single from first baseman Mark Hernandez eventually saw him make it home on an RBI by Matheny. Matheny later scored on a wild pitch with two outs on the board to make it 10-6.
Needing four runs to extend the game, the Coyotes would tally two hits and two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but pitcher Andrew Guardino picked up the final out on a pop up to end the game.
Left fielder Carson Cahoy and Andrew McKenna led the Vaqueros with three RBI apiece. Cahoy picked up two of his three RBI on a double in the fifth. Hernandez ended the day with a Vaquero-high two hits and shared the team-lead of two runs with Matheny.
Santa Barbara will return home for a Saturday rematch against Cerro Coso at 1:00 p.m. at Pershing Park.
