Ledesma, Bereaud shine in 7-2 win over Oxnard

Steven Ledesma threw seven innings of one-run baseball on Thursday and Nicolas Bereaud blasted a two-run homer, guiding SBCC to a 7-2 victory over Oxnard at Pershing Park.

Nicholas Allman went 3-3 with two RBIs and Morgan Lomax had a double and a triple for the Vaqueros (5-6, 2-1 WSC North). Codi Santana was 3-5 for the Condors (4-8, 1-2).

Ledesma, a 6-4 sophomore right-hander from Ventura, gave up nine hits and just one run. He struck out six, walked one and retired his last eight batters in order.

He had an unusual third inning as all six Condors reached base (on three hits and three fielder's choices) without scoring a run. All three outs came on forceouts at second and third.

"I kind of struggled my last few starts and my mental game was little off," said Ledesma. "I was getting into my head and today, it changed. We've been working on it and today was more about trusting my defense."

Oxnard took a 1-0 lead after three batters with Tyson Quolas delivering an RBI single. The Vaqueros grabbed a 2-1 advantage on RBI singles by Andrew Cosgrove in the second and a safety squeeze bunt by Chris Smutny that scored Lomax, who led off the third with a triple to the left-field corner.

The Vaqueros stretched the margin to 3-1 in the fourth when Jake Gagain doubled, went to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch by starter Travis Hawkins.

"Steven did a great job of settling down after the first inning," said SBCC coach Jeff Walker. "That seems to be our thing, giving up runs in the first. He settled in nicely, kept them off the scoreboard and got the momentum back on our side.

"We got some timely hitting and some production at the bottom of the order, which we've been lacking at times this year. They set the table for the guys in the middle."

The Vaqueros expanded the margin to 5-1 in the sixth when Bereaud walked and Gagain was hit by a pitch to open the inning. They moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Connor Clark and both scored on a double by Allman that landed just inside the right-field line.

One inning later, Chris Smutny was hit by a pitch and the left-handed Bereaud continued his torrid hitting with a towering 350-foot blast inside the right-field foul pole that landed on Castillo Street. Bereaud leads the Vaqueros in hitting with a .394 average and ranks fourth in the state in homers (3) and RBIs (17 in 11 games).

"We're using a different ball this year that flies a little farther but that was still impressive," said Walker.

Joseph Osegueda came on to pitch the eighth and got into trouble with a walk and two singles that loaded the bases. He walked pinch-hitter Tyler Waid to force in a run, then got out of the jam with two strikeouts and an unassisted forceout at third by Smutny.  

Six of the Vaqueros' nine hits went for extra bases with a homer, a triple and four doubles.

SBCC travels to Oxnard on Saturday for a 1 p.m. game.