Churchill pitches Vaqueros past first-place Cuesta, 4-2

Ian Churchill didn't start Saturday's key WSC North baseball game at Cuesta but he showed his flair as a finisher. The sophomore left-hander held the Cougars to two runs (one earned) on four singles in the last seven innings of SBCC's 4-2 win in San Luis Obispo.

The Vaqueros (15-11, 8-7) won their third in a row and knocked Cuesta from first place. Ventura leads the six-team race at 10-5 with the Cougars (18-11, 9-6) a game back and SBCC two games back with five to play.

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Dylan Porter started for the Vaqueros and pitched two innings of shutout ball. Churchill (6-1) went the last seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts and three walks. His ERA went up to 0.65. He's fourth in the state in ERA and seventh in strikeouts (73).

Patrick Caulfield was 2-5 for the Vaqueros and Alonzo Rubalcaba was 1-3 with two RBIs. The Vaqueros snapped a 1-1 tie with two runs in the seventh on an RBI single by Rubalcaba and a sacrifice fly by Nick Prainito. They made it 4-1 in the eighth when Martz was intentionally walked and Caulfield walked to load the bases. Rubalcaba drew another walk to force in Logan Pollack with the fourth run.

The Vaqueros will host Cuesta on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.