Vaqueros Eliminated in Hard-Fought First Round

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College baseball team played 29 innings over 27 hours, but couldn't advance to the Super Regionals after dropping Game 3 of the 3C2A SoCal Regional on Saturday at Pershing Park.

Trailing 1-0 in the best-of-three playoff series heading into the day, the Vaqueros staved off elimination in Game 2 with a 7-5 extra-innings victory.

Santa Barbara struck early, as Will Matuszak's leadoff double led to him scoring on a passed ball. Moments later, Cole Ide drove in Aidan Camberg to give the Vaqueros a 2-0 lead.

Logan Seeger added an RBI, and Nicolas Aguirre crossed home on a balk to make it 4-0 in the fourth inning.

The Hornets responded with a five-run rally, taking a 5-4 lead in the seventh before Andrue Dosztan-Campbell came through with a clutch pinch-hit RBI single to right, tying the game.

The Vaqueros were forced to shuffle defensively, using three different third basemen after Ben Fabbian was hit in the helmet. Fortunately, Fabbian would be okay.

Trevor Kester-Johnson threw three scoreless innings in relief, paving the way for Ethan Rodriguez's two-RBI double to center, which sealed the Game 2 win and forced a decisive Game 3.

After a short break to eat dinner and prepare the field, Santa Barbara once again started strong, with Ide picking up his second first-inning RBI of the day for a 1-0 lead.

Defensive miscues cost the Vaqueros, as errors in the third and fifth innings allowed Fullerton to move ahead 3-1.

Matuszak answered in the fifth with an RBI double to score Michael Firestone and later tied the game on a sacrifice fly by Camberg.

But in the ninth, Fullerton's Jake Larson delivered a go-ahead RBI single. The Hornets held on for a 4-3 win to take the series and move on to face the second-seeded Cypress College. 

Both teams showed grit, managed their bullpens strategically, and came through with timely hits. In a series this tightly contested, it's a shame someone had to lose.